Calculator test

[naddy]

(12-08-2024 04:04 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  

(12-08-2024 02:06 PM)Commie Wrote:  ...what I can't get my head around was this computational power was available way back in 1982...

Back then you used a mainframe or a minicomputer (assuming that you had access). No PC's etc.
The HP-15C was the solution to that problem.

Yep. When the HP-15C was designed, in 1980 or so, it would have been the only personal computing device for most of its users, in particular university students. I was too young then, but I think video terminals were still scarce and if undergrad engineering students wanted/had to use a computer, that meant submitting a stack of punch cards and waiting for a printout.

Obviously this had completely changed ten years later, when terminals and workstations had become widely available on campus, and you would expect most engineering students to have some sort of computer at home.

The 15C is a mean machine. It's principal limitations stem from the display technology available at the time. It was designed as an engineering tool, not as a toy for high school math class.