HP Prime or HP 50g

[dbbotkin]

Some perspective . . .

I first used an H/P calculator in 1972 and have been both a calculator user and "in business" since then.

Here's how things were back then.
1) "Down-sizing" had not begun, so there were more layers of "management," not less, and yes, beans were counted then too.
2) Legal departments (if they existed at all) were small and meek.
3) There were no PC's, portable phones, PDA's and if an engineer or finance guy (like me) wanted to calculate something, they used a calculator by h/p or TI.
4) Foreign manufacture? Not likely. Foreign markets? Same calculator, same manual, higher price.
5) When I bought my h/p 67, I was a "high-paid, Wall Street guy" (with a young family and a mortgage) and I had to think about whether I could afford the h/p 67 purchase. (that is not a "humble-brag," just a statement of the relative movement of calculator prices and some US incomes)
6) Oh, and shareholders were fortunate if they got a dividend and a copy of a glossy Annual Report

Here's what seems different today:
1) "Marketing" has replaced "management" both in numbers and more so in power
2) Legal departments have even more power than do the marketing departments
3) Calculators (if you can call them that) are everywhere, but to what use are they put? Certainly not maxing out the power of the device on work-related problems.
4) Everything comes from Asia manufacturers, as "designed" in the US, and will be sold worldwide. Marketing materials, manuals, support, etc. are all "local-language" and conform to a plethora of government standards (read the backside on your Prime)
5) We put a man on the moon using slide-rules for math, but now school kids have the power of a 1970's super-computer in their pocket for the price of $20 in 1970 terms.
6) Now Corporate shareholders can force a business to focus on short-term profits because that is where the big bonus bucks are found.

How can this be? Well, consider that "marketing" dances to the beat of demand, one need look no farther than the mirror to find the cause. We choose products based on lowest cost, latest features, social-media support and if they don't work out, some law firm will file a class-action suit on behalf of all us poor purchasers. (for a measly 35-50% of the award)

So, we should be kind to the folks who labor as engineers for the mega-corps and still take time to help out on the user forums--they are the last thread of support with actual knowledge of how things work.