Is super-accuracy matters?

[nickapos]

(11-18-2023 11:11 AM)Johnh Wrote:  With personal computers for everyone, now mostly slim portable laptops, all backed up, with lots of apps and also powerful spreadsheets etc, the compelling need to work the numbers with a calculator has receded.

Engineers, scientists and financial professionals have always needed tools to do this. For about 25 years as an engineer, my programmable calcs were my most direct and personal access to number-crunching day by day. The PC's were there, but clunky, maybe shared. The calculators were quick and direct and quite powerful.

But now you can definitely manage without one, but most engineers still have a calculator on their desk. It's part of the thinking process. But almost nobody uses programmable calculators any more. Anything which 30-40 years ago would have been ideal to run on an HP41 or HP15c, is now probably more professionally put into Excel.

But an HP calculator is still a beautiful thing, and I run mine for the quick ad-hoc numbers that help me think through a problem. And I use a few small programs to help me do that.

And accuracy is fine. most engineeting calculations, at least in my field (structures) only need 4 or 5 decimal places and any more are meaningless.

I fully agree with you, I find that it is very handy to have a calculator at hand even when you have all your calculations in a spreadsheet, or your dedicated professional software. I have worked for many years in the banking sector and I often have had to calculate intermediate results as a way to verify that my input was correct. Initially I was using a regular 4 banger provided by the bank, but eventually switched to my own scientific calculator that had a history and editing capabilities. Back then I did not have any HP, I was using mostly Sharp and Casio.
I do believe that there is still space for a calculator in the professional fields, but as an auxiliary device and not the primary calculation machine.
Also portability and form factor is still key, i often reach out for my calculator even though I have in front of me several computer and displays. Its layout is ideal for quick calculations, where with a computer it might not be as straightforward.