Could the 38E/C have been the standard?

[Geoff Quickfall]

Adding to the above, there was/is a prestige value when using the hp12c. The gold trim and facia plate adds to this.

Also, many commerce and Econ courses demanded the hp12 as a standard when it came to formatting exams at university in the eighties and nineties. Similar to the 41C series in engineering in the early 80s.

Read an anecdote that in India, in commerce, you were not taken seriously if you did not have a 12c on your desk, this was taken to the extreme when your working calc was other then the 12c. Still, the 12c had to be the ‘visible’ calculator!

Geoff