Texas Instruments Little Professor (1978)

You know this cute math trainer, the Little Professor. Millions and millions were sold in the past 2½ decades from this simple but funny educational product. The basic idea behind the Little Professor is opposite to a normal calculator: The child has to type the answer of simple questions like " 3 + 5 = ? ". You can choose between the four basic math functions and four different grade levels. If the child gives a wrong answer "EEE" occurs, otherwise another of more than 16000 different questions is asked.

From the technology this Little Professor from 1978 is similar to the TI-1000 calculator of the same epoche. This second version of the Little Professor could easily recognized at the ON/OFF keys and the LEVEL-key to adjust the grade level. Compare it with the first version introduced already in 1976.

Dismantling the Little Professor (1978) reveals a surprise - some models use inside a flexible printed circuit board (Flex-PCB) and some a rigid PCB. 

The 5th row of the keyboard (OFF, SET and LEVEL) disturbs the design of the Little Professor. Already in 1980 a new, smaller keyboard was available and this one matched the original design. The picture on the right combines this Little Professor (1978) with the later Little Professor (1980).

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.