Does the HP-35S need a 'guide for dummies' how-to guide?

[Don Shepherd]

(03-19-2015 03:44 PM)Derek W Wrote:  

(03-09-2015 05:08 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:  Nobody used slide rules after the HP-35 came out.

Don, while I fully agree with the points you're making, I can't let this one pass without a little anecdote.

I work as an engineer in the water industry and on occasion attend meetings where a discussion revolves around the number, diameter and height of cylindrical tanks required to achieve a certain volume. Having a slide rule with a pi/4 cursor mark over the A/B scales makes this calculation extremely quick, since it gives a direct conversion from diameter to area, so a single slide move then gives a scale showing height vs volume. I can have the answer well before others have finished putting values into their calculator or even into a spreadsheet.

Since many younger engineers have never even heard of a slide rule, let alone seen or used one, it's nice to remind them that new technology doesn't always outperform old. However I certainly wouldn't want to abandon Excel or my HPs and go back to a slide rule for most uses!

That's a good point, Derek. Sometimes older is better (easy for me to say since I'm 64!). I still proudly wear my Pulsar LED watch from 1973, the first digital watch. It does exactly one thing--tells you the time when you press the button--but it does it with style.