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HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

hpcalcs.com

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Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#51

Post by gdelfino01 »

wolvoleo wrote: post #43

I would love a programmers' calculator but I really hate RPN. I wish they would make one without it. Back in the day they did it for efficiency. But that's no longer an issue these days. I do still have a mint HP48GX but never use it for the same reason. The successor the 49 had normal math as an option but it was not as iconic.

I absolutely love my HP48SX and HP48GX (I have both) and the RPN is what I like the most. But if you don't like RPN, just type a regular expression between simple quotes and evaluate it.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#52

Post by wolvoleo »

gdelfino01 wrote: post #51
wolvoleo wrote: post #43

I would love a programmers' calculator but I really hate RPN. I wish they would make one without it. Back in the day they did it for efficiency. But that's no longer an issue these days. I do still have a mint HP48GX but never use it for the same reason. The successor the 49 had normal math as an option but it was not as iconic.

I absolutely love my HP48SX and HP48GX (I have both) and the RPN is what I like the most. But if you don't like RPN, just type a regular expression between simple quotes and evaluate it.

Yes that is true, but that only works in expression mode and that is not always suitable.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#53

Post by dmd »

Joel_Mckay wrote: post #49
juancn wrote: post #7

Gosh I need one so badly. Used ones are up to about 500USD. Pity the international shop is down

hp48 is still on Android for free, as HP released the ROMs to public domain while they were still an awesome company. The unit converter is still very handy. =3 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ab.x48&hl=...

Most of the point is the button-feel, though. If I'm just gonna use a computer, I might as well use a full REPL.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#54

Post by wolvoleo »

kstrauser wrote: post #50
wolvoleo wrote: post #43

I would love a programmers' calculator but I really hate RPN. I wish they would make one without it. Back in the day they did it for efficiency. But that's no longer an issue these days. I do still have a mint HP48GX but never use it for the same reason. The successor the 49 had normal math as an option but it was not as iconic.

RPN felt so weird and alien to me, and then one day I felt my brain pivot, and now it's the only method I can bear. RPN isn't just more efficient for the calculator to process. I mean, it is , but that's not the selling point. It's way more efficient to use . It requires the least number of keystrokes necessary to enter a formula, and never requires parentheses for grouping. You can start at the innermost nested, hai…

Yeah I understand. For me I just never could get my head around it. My brain doesn't work that way, and I'm the kind of person that always needs to bend their tools to them rather than absorb a new way of working. For example, I deeply hate opinionated software where you have to learn the workflow the developer intended. It can be powerful but I don't work that way. I have my own ideas how something should work and I adapt my tools to it.

RPN but also something like Gnome doesn't match. So I use things like KDE that have huge amounts of configurability. I also deeply hate processes and methodologies at work and I often ignore them leading to endless stress for my more bureaucratic coworkers :)

TL;DR, me not liking RPN doesn't mean I think it's bad. It's just not for me and that is more a 'me' thing than an RPN thing.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#55

Post by [deleted] »

bigfishrunning wrote: post #22
wslh wrote: post #19

It's always interesting that they use ARM chips to emulate the original firmware.

if that's true, it seems really wasteful honestly. why not reimplement the functionality using a native instruction set rather then emulating some other processor?

[deleted]

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#56

Post by wolvoleo »

NetMageSCW wrote: post #48
wolvoleo wrote: post #43

I would love a programmers' calculator but I really hate RPN. I wish they would make one without it. Back in the day they did it for efficiency. But that's no longer an issue these days. I do still have a mint HP48GX but never use it for the same reason. The successor the 49 had normal math as an option but it was not as iconic.

They did it for user efficiency, not machine efficiency. And it is still better today for hand calculation.

As I read it was also about including the highest amount of features in the tool. But to me it's more like Dvorak. Sure, it's more efficient if you learn it and really absorb the mehtod but most people don't bother.

Personally I'm not very flexible in that way, I want my tools to adjust to me not the other way around.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#58

Post by threwrfaway »

golem14 wrote: post #41

I had the Hp15c (and still have) but always deeply longed for the hp28s, which was the first to implement a lisp-like programming language in a calculator. Had I bought that one, who knows how different my computing life would have been…

The HP28s is amazing. The manual even has a program to convert an algebraic expression to rpn.

In high school it was mind blowing.

But I didn't do anything serious with programming. Normal languages seemed annoying, usr/rpl useless limited as it was to a 4 bit calculator.

Maybe if someone had told me usr/rpl is just lisp. But, it's for the best. I loath computer screens today.

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#59

Post by JohnVanVliet »

bluenose69 wrote: post #39

They are doing this also for the science version, the 15C. I bought a 15C in the 1980s, and have enjoyed it ever since. It is like a rock. Despite being treated roughly over the years, nothing is wrong with it apart from some dents in the metal parts and my name, scratched on the back. I suppose I've replaced the batteries a couple of times, but that's it. This thing just refuses to die. The main thing is that the ke…

i also love my 15c ,used it for many years now i also have 1 on my KDE desktop it works just fine in wayland an in x11

Re: HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C

#60

Post by kenjackson »

chrisandchris wrote: post #4

I did never use a 16C, but I have a 42 at home and use it very often. It goes so far, that I also have the 42 app on my phone as a replacement for the default calculator app. I am using RPN, and I think I'm the only one in my age category that does (at least none of my friends who studied ever heard of RPN) - it's such a superior way to calculate. I usually have problems to work with a "regular" calculator due to bei…

I had a 42s, which to this day is my all time favorite calculator. I later “upgraded” to a 48sx, but never had the same love for it.
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