I've had the local (downloaded) version of the Pickett NE600-ES on my desktop for a couple of years now. It's always good for a laugh when you're presenting to a bunch of 'oldtimers'.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA Siemens PLM: UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
My Texas Speed Rule is still in my desk drawer. 8<)
But then again, I competed in slide rule and science back in high school, and only got my first calculator after ME II as a college sophomore (ME 213 was dynamics. Statics was ME 112.)
That model was my constant companion for many years. My uncle had given me a Post Versalog which was a superb instrument, but I found it's blue and red lines on a white background to be hopelessly distracting. My father had a very tired slide rule, and he loved the Versalog. He disliked the yellow background of the Pickett, so we made a deal. He bought me a Pickett that I liked, and I gave him the Versalog. If I remember correctly, the Versalog was slightly more expensive at the time. It was a bargain that was mutually satisfactory for many years.
An important factor that is easily lost in our modern digital computer based world is the limited accuracy of the data that we normally use. Because of instrument limitations and imperfections, we seldom work with data that is truly accurate beyond two or three significant digits. In our modern digital world, it is so very easy to forget the limited accuracy of the underlying data with which we are normally making our calculations. That slide rule was a constant reminder of our inherent limitations, and it forced a constant respect for those limitations.
Valuable advice from a professor many years ago: First, design for graceful failure. Everything we build will eventually fail, so we must strive to avoid injuries or secondary damage when that failure occurs. Only then can practicality and economics be properly considered.
In addition to the 'virtual' Pickett NE600-ES on my PC's desktop, I've still got my 'physical' Pickett N-500-ES HI LOG/LOG that I got while I was in high school. I wanted a metal sliderule so that it would last a lifetime, and I guess it did considering that I graduated from HS in 1965 ;-)
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA Siemens PLM: UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
I have 3 slide rules. My first one that I used to use in high school before they allowed us to use calculators in exams, a nice one my parents bought me just before they became obsolete and my step-father's slide rule he used when he was in school.
