HP 30b

[Joseph_21sv]

(01-26-2016 08:48 PM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  

(01-25-2016 01:20 AM)Joseph_21sv Wrote:  However, the 30b at least might have been salvageable if HP were willing to salvage it.

While technically true, that really wasn't the case. As stated earlier, nobody (enough nobodies at least) was interested in it! The 10bII+ is the unit that is marketed for college and thus has the volume. The 12C is the "classic". Certain professional exams refuse to add any models past the 2 token HP models, and the 2 token TI models. No matter what was done, chances are nothing could have saved it no matter how much $$$ were put in.

Programming aside, the 10bII+ will run rings around any other HP financial calculator out there. Bang for the $, it is the best finance calculator ever made. Not just my opinion because I made the thing either. I suspect many people here might back me up on that.

Quote:entirely drop immediate execution mode for algebraic entry,

Nope. Have to say you are wrong there. When I made the 10bII+ a lot of work was put in to evaluating that issue and research clearly showed that is still important to a pretty significant segment of the market. (I am assuming you are talking about "chain algebraic" here, if not please correct my misunderstanding)

Quote: replacing this with continuous memory of which entry mode it was set to

Not sure I understand your comment here...

Quote:remake it to use a conventional 2-line display;

That isn't really a "remake" but rather a completely different product from scratch. Someone else can point you at the technical specs of the SOC if you are really interested.

Quote:really market it as programmable and make it less awkward to enter alphanumeric messages into programs.

Great! You've now increased the sales maybe 5% over what they already were.

Unfortunately for you and I, "programming" is not important anymore to enough people that it makes a real difference. The type of people who programmed calculators "back in the day" now tend to program things like phones, arduino and similar project/hobby systems. There is just much more power, easier environments, and more interest in those other areas.

Well then, the 30b might have been salvageable if HP had been allowed the room to salvage it. The largest thing they could have then done is to make it less cryptic and awkward to configure it. For example, even though the built-in TVM solver can be set to solve TVM problems where P/Y != C/Y, it is easier, in spite of being redundant, for you to program a TVM solver for those problems yourself. If it is easier for you to reprogram a technically preprogrammed function yourself, why is the function preprogrammed in the first place? As to the SOC, they could implement it on one which did not force them to rob from the alphanumeric line for status indicators.
Or they could just combine the 10bII+ and 12CPt and the 17B display into a 22b. That way a business calculator with a technically graphical display could be accepted by more professional finance exams.