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

Absolutely love HP calculators. Almost fourty years ago, my HP28s introduced me into programming in RPL, a stack based Forth like language combined with elements from Scheme (Lisp), and symbolic calculation. It was a language that was way ahead of its time, nothing I had seen in Pascal or C. Only a few years later in Mathematica. From there I learned Scheme, and was introduced to the book SICP. All of this had a lasting effect on how I program and think.

HP started my journey so to speak :)

I also had one of those mentioned in the article, just for nostalgia. Rock solid, RPN based, lovely product. The kind of product companies do not build anymore (products that will last you a lifetime)

Who is the audience for this? I was a big fan of HP calculators at the time. Guilty of RPN snobbery and in posession of the passed by nth generation photocopy 'synthetic programming' document. I still have my 41CV even though it has not been turned on in 20 years.

But a fake lookalike 'collectors edition' of a device that can have only nostalgic sentimental value? Why does this exist? Who falls for this?

> But the 15c 'Collector's Edition' had some issues, and I wonder about the build quality and reliability of this new one, too.

Build quality deteriorated (from impressive heights) more than 25 years ago, when HP's calculator manufacturing moved to China. Not on account of China itself, but it was definitely a cost-cutting measure, and higher-end calculators were becoming an endangered species even then. For example, keycaps used to be double-shot injection molded, so the legends could never wear out; no more, now they're silkscreened like with everyone else. The new key mechanism could never reach the robustness and reliability of the old one, which is a problem if you're used to every keypress felt in your fingertips being correctly registered.

(Not everything was premium quality. On my late 15C, the faceplate logo wore out and the soft sleeve crumbled to dust after a couple of years. But the machine itself continued to work flawlessly until an unfortunate accident with a space heater.)

Additionally, the new Voyagers (1x series) are not running on the original, custom HP "Nut" CPUs, but on ARM microcontrollers, presumably via firmware emulation. It's impressive that the whole things works so transparently, but as I dimly recall, there were problems with that emulation in the first 15C Collector Edition runs, supposedly fixed now.

So, if you buy a new Voyager these days, you're getting a convincing replica of the originals from the '80s, nothing more. Caveat emptor.

I use HP calculators every day. 12C for most common tasks, 25 in the workshop (it can be operated one-handed!), 15C or 50G for more complex tasks involving units.

Calculators are very useful, using them is a forgotten art. While it no longer makes sense to plot anything on a calculator (I use Mathematica for that), it is still a great tool.

I have a 16C and I use it, but only when developing embedded software where I need to wiggle bits. It is very useful for that, especially with one-key switching between bases (HEX/BIN/DEC).

> Who is the audience for this?

People on big tech salaries with too much money.

If I saw an original one for sale for 10 credits or less I'd probably buy it as a curiosity piece, but no more than that. I do use a desk calculator but still have my trusty Casio that I bought over 20 years ago.