HP Calculator Highlights since the 1980

[rprosperi]

(04-04-2018 01:31 PM)pier4r Wrote:  I still miss a lot of history, indeed I recently appreciated the 71b. Anyway I'm surprise there even with basic and a lot of ram available, people kept using the 41c .

I mean the 41c is great and all, anyway basic proved being more user friendly. I would have imagined the 71b selling like bread .
It is really a surprise.

We view the 71b from today, with appreciation for documentation, flexible I/O capabilities, easy expansion to beyond what people can afford, etc. most of which were new innovations that were not as appreciated at the time.

Also, many (most?) VARs did not trust selling their valuable and expensive programs written in BASIC, as the security was easily broken and programs (and even full ROM modules) were easily copied, so it was very hard to prevent theft and copying by unscrupulous customers, many of whom had no idea they were breaking the law.