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In the early 1980's there was a small handheld device that looked like a calculator. It was a tool to teach beginner level programming in BASIC. Its ad slogan was "keep it near you". I never had one and I have forgotten the exact brand name. It was in the American market. It seemed to be marketed at people who knew nothing about computers or programming; the ads said that you could go from knowing nothing to being competent in programming in a few weeks.

Did anyone seriously learn to program from using this? Or was it an obscure failure that become a footnote in tech history? This is getting obscure. What was the tool? It was awhile ago.

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  • Do you want us to identify this for you? Otherwise (if this is about users' personal experiences), this is not really a good fit for the site, and will be closed. (Hint: edit.)
    – wizzwizz4 ♦
    Jun 26, 2019 at 23:59
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    "the ads said that you could go from knowing nothing to being competent in programming in a few weeks" - they still do. amazon.com/dp/0789757745/…
    – alephzero
    Jun 27, 2019 at 0:51
  • Are you thinking of something from the Tandy Pocket Computer range (actually, rebadged Sharp or Casio products)?
    – TripeHound
    Jun 27, 2019 at 11:32
  • Those did BASIC commands. But I don't think that they are it; I'm thinking of something more limited that basically taught BASIC and that was all it did. But it did look a pocket calculator in size and shape and it was easily portable.
    – Snack_Food_Termite
    Jun 27, 2019 at 11:38

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