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Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

#72

Post by dubbie99 »

buddylw wrote: post #59

I have a Swiss Micros DM42, a modern clone of the HP42s on my desk and I have the plus42/free42 app on pretty much every device I own. Stack based calculators are great because the stack works as a little scratchpad when I'm trying to figure something out. If I'm solving a problem of any complexity I'll move to a more appropriate tool like python or a spreadsheet, but for the simple math that needs to be done around…

I have one on my desk at work. I use it 2-3 times a week for quickly calculating things. It gives me a good feeling every time I use it.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

#73

Post by netsharc »

lagrange77 wrote: post #13

I'm using a HP48G. [0] It's just a joy to use and i also like it a lot design wise. I like that it has a big display for 4 RPN rows, but i admit that that's something software calculators would even be better at. It definitely has a nostalgic/romantic side to it for me. Oh and for every day stuff, i really like to use Spotlight on macOS. It's really convenient: Command+Space, then just type the expression into the se…

Does the Spotlight calculator still expect you to respect the locale and ignores decimal points as if they don't exist, if you enter them not locale-compliant?

10 years ago I tried to add 640.9 + 2.73 on a German-locale Mac (Germany uses "," as the decimal separator), and it gave me 6682 as the answer...

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

#75

Post by HardwareLust »

ralferoo wrote: post #40

The first time I went to China and spoke basically no Mandarin (just "want", "don't want", "this one", "that one", "how much money", "thank you") I took a cheap calculator when I went shopping for electronics and just let people type in the price they wanted. It was also useful for haggling too.

That, and a small notebook (many people can read a bit of English better than hearing it) can get you 99% of the way there. I did a lot of traveling pre-mobile and pre-internet and these simple tools served me very well!

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

#77

Post by lagrange77 »

netsharc wrote: post #73
lagrange77 wrote: post #13

I'm using a HP48G. [0] It's just a joy to use and i also like it a lot design wise. I like that it has a big display for 4 RPN rows, but i admit that that's something software calculators would even be better at. It definitely has a nostalgic/romantic side to it for me. Oh and for every day stuff, i really like to use Spotlight on macOS. It's really convenient: Command+Space, then just type the expression into the se…

Does the Spotlight calculator still expect you to respect the locale and ignores decimal points as if they don't exist, if you enter them not locale-compliant? 10 years ago I tried to add 640.9 + 2.73 on a German-locale Mac (Germany uses "," as the decimal separator), and it gave me 6682 as the answer...

Just tested it and yes the issue is still there!

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

#79

Post by sejje »

HardwareLust wrote: post #75
ralferoo wrote: post #40

The first time I went to China and spoke basically no Mandarin (just "want", "don't want", "this one", "that one", "how much money", "thank you") I took a cheap calculator when I went shopping for electronics and just let people type in the price they wanted. It was also useful for haggling too.

That, and a small notebook (many people can read a bit of English better than hearing it) can get you 99% of the way there. I did a lot of traveling pre-mobile and pre-internet and these simple tools served me very well!

Or a pocket translator like chatgpt
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