The early history of HP calculators
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The early history of HP calculators
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Re: The early history of HP calculators
#2Still got and use my 12C, and 48gx, unfortunately sold my 28 to buy the latter. When you look at the quality of what HP used to produce versus now, it's very sad.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#3I'm too young to remember, but it seems the UK calculator of choice was the Sinclair http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sinclair1.html
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#4I'm too young to remember, but it seems the UK calculator of choice was the Sinclair http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sinclair1.html
My dad, who went to Uni in the '70s to do maths and physics, has a Sinclair scientific that looks very similar except has blue LED digits. I don't know the exact model.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#5Still got and use my 12C, and 48gx, unfortunately sold my 28 to buy the latter. When you look at the quality of what HP used to produce versus now, it's very sad.
I have a couple of 12Cs -- one made the year I was born, and the other made 2011 -- and an 11C. I use my 12C for absolutely everything, and couldn't live without it. The one made the same year I was born (1983) is a sturdier, but the 2011-made one is also excellent.
I also had a 48GX but sold it -- I didn't use it, and I preferred the more compact Voyager series, even if the stack isn't displayed on screen. I agree that the build quality has dropped over time, but I'd still choose an RPN HP over anything else.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#6Notice the distinct lack of an '=' button --- HP's calculators have been almost exclusively RPN-based.
It's funny to watch other (newer) developers reactions when they ask to borrow the calculator that's usually on my desk (a 42S) and then give it back several minutes later, with a puzzled look on their faces.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#7I am pretty old. The first computer I touched was an HP. They called it a calculator, my understanding is that this decision was based on the fears people had of computers back then.
Hmm... I don't recall if it was the A or B. But, here is a video that is more than you wanted to know:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JmTyrS-jfi0
If you're curious, I hated it. In retrospect, it was pretty awesome. At the time, I hated it. I basically hated computers up until the mid-90s. I didn't really like them for another ten years. Now, the relationship is like that of old adversaries that are too tired to fight any longer.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#8Notice the distinct lack of an '=' button --- HP's calculators have been almost exclusively RPN-based. It's funny to watch other (newer) developers reactions when they ask to borrow the calculator that's usually on my desk (a 42S) and then give it back several minutes later, with a puzzled look on their faces.
At my last job, which involved a lot of number work, my boss would often pick up my HP-12C to quickly calculate something we were talking about. Every single time, he'd say, "Your calculator is broken," then put it back on my desk. It became a running joke of ours.
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#9I've never used an HP calculator, but I've recently been getting interested in emacs' calc, which is also RPN.
Could someone who's used both talk a bit about how they compare? Are calc and emacs missing something that made HP great?
Re: The early history of HP calculators
#10I've never used an HP calculator, but I've recently been getting interested in emacs' calc, which is also RPN. Could someone who's used both talk a bit about how they compare? Are calc and emacs missing something that made HP great?
Single hand operation and wonderful click feel of HP calc buttons (before the 49 model of course) ;)