Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

RMollov · 10-07-2019, 01:45 PM

Calculators were practically abandoned by HP long ago, so I can't care less if the company exists at all.

Maximilian Hohmann · 10-07-2019, 01:58 PM

Hello!

(10-07-2019 01:45 PM)RMollov Wrote: Calculators were practically abandoned by HP long ago, so I can't care less if the company exists at all.

I don't see it that way at all. During my university and postgraduate years I used much more from HP than their calculators (which incidentally I did not use at all because they were unaffordable for me). Terminals, desktop computers, PCs, printers, plotters, laboratory equipment, test equipment, ... All of that was very well designed, built in the best possible way and came with excellent support. I even saw the first picture of my unborn son on an ultrasonic imager from HP :-)

Once I had a little money left after a student job and I went to the bank and bought HP stock (two or three shares...) from it. So much I believed in that company. Therefore their fate does not leave me cold!

Regards
Max

KeithB · 10-07-2019, 02:20 PM

While the computer/printer group kept the name, in my opinion, the *real* HP is Keysight and whatever the medical/gas chromatagraph group is called these days. (Did it stay Agilent?)

John Keith · 10-07-2019, 06:26 PM

Good point; I think the calculator division would be better as part of Keysight rather than the main part of HP.

RMollov · 10-08-2019, 12:53 PM

(10-07-2019 06:26 PM)John Keith Wrote: Good point; I think the calculator division would be better as part of Keysight rather than the main part of HP.

I'm really curious what exactly HP's "calculator division" is meant to do and how its existence is justified in the line of HP's policy/strategy these days.

KeithB · 10-08-2019, 01:18 PM

(10-07-2019 06:26 PM)John Keith Wrote: Good point; I think the calculator division would be better as part of Keysight rather than the main part of HP.

I think that ship has long sailed. I don't see Keysight buying it from HP.

Alex S · 10-09-2019, 06:52 PM

(10-07-2019 01:08 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote: Hello!

(10-07-2019 06:46 AM)Alex S Wrote: All manufacturers do the same tricks on the low-end printers.
Over 10 years ago I bought an inkjet printer from Canon (which is still working fine) because it does not use such tricks.

Lucky you!
I was talking about low-end printers. That is the price range around 50$.
If yours was really that cheap, I would be interested which model is that.

And BTW, talking about HP: I'm sure most of you know, that all the HP inkjets are Canon engines?

KimH · (This post was last modified: 10-10-2019 09:29 AM by KimH.)

(10-09-2019 06:52 PM)Alex S Wrote:
(10-07-2019 01:08 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote: Hello!

Over 10 years ago I bought an inkjet printer from Canon (which is still working fine) because it does not use such tricks.

Lucky you!
I was talking about low-end printers. That is the price range around 50$.
If yours was really that cheap, I would be interested which model is that.

And BTW, talking about HP: I'm sure most of you know, that all the HP inkjets are Canon engines?

Actually, that statement on Inkjets being based on Canon Technology is not correct.

Thermal Inkjet Printers, the way we know them today, were developed by HP labs back in the early 80's. ThinkJet was the first one out, DeskJet later as the affordable replacement for Laser technology at a much lower price point. Canons BubbleJet is a similar technology as HP's. Given that HP probably Patented all the key technologies back then, one could wonder if the basis (initially) of the BubbleJet were not a sort of Technology Exchange between the 2 companies.

On the other hand the LaserJets until recently were almost exclusively made by Canon (this is public knowledge, you can find reasons why this happened by looking up LaserJet in Wikipedia). The Samsung Acquisition a couple of years ago, likely changed part of that arrangement.

Jake Schwartz · 10-10-2019, 03:38 PM

(10-10-2019 09:28 AM)KimH Wrote: Actually, that statement on Inkjets being based on Canon Technology is not correct.

Thermal Inkjet Printers, the way we know them today, were developed by HP labs back in the early 80's. ThinkJet was the first one out, DeskJet later as the affordable replacement for Laser technology at a much lower price point. Canons BubbleJet is a similar technology as HP's. Given that HP probably Patented all the key technologies back then, one could wonder if the basis (initially) of the BubbleJet were not a sort of Technology Exchange between the 2 companies.

There is an interesting anecdote on this very thing in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, V35 No. 3 (March 1984) on page 44 (the back page).

Jake

**rprosperi** · 10-10-2019, 06:27 PM

(10-10-2019 03:38 PM)Jake Schwartz Wrote:
(10-10-2019 09:28 AM)KimH Wrote: Actually, that statement on Inkjets being based on Canon Technology is not correct.

Thermal Inkjet Printers, the way we know them today, were developed by HP labs back in the early 80's. ThinkJet was the first one out, DeskJet later as the affordable replacement for Laser technology at a much lower price point. Canons BubbleJet is a similar technology as HP's. Given that HP probably Patented all the key technologies back then, one could wonder if the basis (initially) of the BubbleJet were not a sort of Technology Exchange between the 2 companies.

There is an interesting anecdote on this very thing in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, V35 No. 3 (March 1984) on page 44 (the back page).

Jake

Jake, your memory for this kind of thing continues to amaze me every time. Thanks for recalling this, and for the reference; you're right, an interesting read!

Jim Horn · 10-10-2019, 07:59 PM

Thank you, Jake! That is still the only publication I've encountered that defined "kogation".

KeithB · 10-10-2019, 08:04 PM

"low cost - both initial cost and total cost of ownership"
Obviously this was before they learned about razors and razor blades. 8^)

Hlib · (This post was last modified: 10-11-2019 03:47 PM by Hlib.)

I paid real money for hp-50g(1), hp-50h(2), hp-48gii(256K), hp-39gs. They were all defective and did never work normally untill died during four years. After all this, I returned to CASIO/TI, and I wish for HP the fate of the city of Detroit.

KeithB · 10-10-2019, 08:35 PM

I paid real money for an HP-41, an HP-71 and a Prime. The HP-41 died after many decades of service - so no complaints there. The 71 is still going strong and is my main work calculator since I can't use the Prime for security reasons. The Prime is my house calculator and works just fine.

lemontea · 10-10-2019, 08:36 PM

(10-08-2019 12:53 PM)RMollov Wrote:
(10-07-2019 06:26 PM)John Keith Wrote: Good point; I think the calculator division would be better as part of Keysight rather than the main part of HP.

I'm really curious what exactly HP's "calculator division" is meant to do and how its existence is justified in the line of HP's policy/strategy these days.

I too am amazed that any tech company (product manufacturer) would even bother with calculators nowadays. I am guessing the justification for HP to have produced as many calculators as it has done so far (the "new and improved HP" that is, sarcasm should be obvious) might partly be legacy/sentimentality/tradition and partly justified as a branding exercise to put the HP logo in front of young minds in the hopes that when they graduate they might decide to choose other HP tech products for their careers.

Hlib · 10-10-2019, 09:05 PM

And I already told you about hp39gii: 80 megabytes of memory, 800 hours of battery life. Absolute lies. I tested it on a real 39gii. At the moment, the CASIO 9860gii is a head taller than this unfortunate 39gii monster, and also better than the TI-83.84.

KeithB · 10-10-2019, 09:12 PM

Hmm, I wonder if HP does go belly up whether the name can revert back to Agilent or Keysight.

mfleming · 10-11-2019, 01:22 AM

(10-10-2019 09:12 PM)KeithB Wrote: Hmm, I wonder if HP does go belly up whether the name can revert back to Agilent or Keysight.

Agilent dismembered itself over a period of about a decade, spinning off each division until there was nothing left of the original Hewlett Packard core but Life Sciences. No place there anymore for a calculator group, or any reason for the original company name!

cyrille de brébisson · 10-11-2019, 05:20 AM

Hello,

(10-10-2019 08:35 PM)KeithB Wrote: The 71 is my main work calculator since I can't use the Prime for security reasons.

Are you able to elaborate on why prime is a security risk in your line of work? That got me wondering!

Cyrille

KeithB · 10-14-2019, 02:07 PM

I work at a national lab in Albuquerque working on secret stuff for the DOE - which is about as specific as I can get on a public forum. 8^)

They limit "Personal Electronic Devices" in the "limited" [secure] areas. Basically any computing device (or phone*! or bluetooth device or USB stick or bluetooth enabled bike hub!) that has a large writeable memory is verboten.

Just the fact that I can move a large file from a PC to the Prime is very suspect. I can have the Lab buy me a Prime, but then it is theirs and not mine, so I cannot take it if I leave.

I am probably bending the rules a bit with the HP71B, but you cannot smuggle many secrets in 48K RAM!

*This seems to be a bone of contention between the DOE and the Lab, young kids out of college refuse to work in a place that will not allow them their phones!