Spice/Spike series Why E?

[Matt Agajanian]

Hi all.

By that point we all knew what C meant. But what did E stand for on the Spike/Spice models?

Thanks

[Valentin Albillo]

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Hi, Matt:

(03-15-2019 10:57 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  By that point we all knew what C meant. But what did E stand for on the Spike/Spice models?

From "A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers":

"All the others had an E - the announcement in HP Key Notes called this an "Extensive low-end product line", but the E meant more than one thing. [...] A new assembly method was used for this series - Easy to assemble - another reason for the E on the model names. The E might also refer to the fact that the series 30 models are reported to be difficult to take appart without the right Equipment !"

Have a nice weekend.
V.
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[Didier Lachieze]

The "E" has never been explicitly defined by HP. Some people think that it means Economic as the Series E models were cheaper than the similar Woodstock models.

It may also be related to Excellence as hinted by this ad:

[Dieter]

(03-16-2019 12:22 AM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  From "A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers":

"All the others had an E - the announcement in HP Key Notes called this an "Extensive low-end product line", but the E meant more than one thing. [...]

It looks like the author of that book has seen a meaning in every word that started with an E. ;-)
So I wouldn't take this too serious. Here is the original quote from HP Key Notes V2N2, May 1978:

Quote:New Design ...
New Prices ...
Series E is Here!

On April 17 Hewlett-Packard announced the new Series E calculators, an extensive low-end product line that presently includes five new machines.

You could just as well interpret the E as "economy", i.e. low budget series. Which might make more sense. The following year Nikon instroduced the EM camera along with some "Series E" lenses. Here the E indeed referred to a low-end economy model. But again that's just guessing.

Dieter

[EdS2]

It has to be E for Economy. See how many times price is mentioned in the advert. But to help people feel that they are not mean, or of limited means, marketing has offered some alternatives.

[Matt Agajanian]

I C your points! Cool ad, too! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

[Valentin Albillo]

(03-18-2019 08:13 AM)EdS2 Wrote:  It has to be E for Economy. See how many times price is mentioned in the advert. But to help people feel that they are not mean, or of limited means, marketing has offered some alternatives.

Sure, I concur that E is likely for Economy but, as HP never said anything officially, every opinion is just speculation, including Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz's amusing guesses in the Guide.

As for the 'economy' feel, certainly the series E calcs were very worthwhile and most welcome machines feature-wise, most specially the awesome HP-34C, but the hardware was a very noticeable step-down from earlier models.

V.
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