43S News

[burkhard]

I'm *very* excited for this, as I've been a big fan of and cheerleader for the WP-34s. The only thing that has bothered me about it has been the inconsistent keyboard quality on the underlying HP-30b. The two WP-34s I built each have keys that sometimes click but don't register. That's of course not a fault of the project, but rather HP beancounter-oriented supplier selection.

Looking at the proposed key layout, my one request, no... a beg (and I guess I'll need to get on the SwissMicros forum to post it for Walter) would be to *either*

A. Put the math operators on the LEFT side in order from top to bottom (- , + , * , / ). This matches HP-41C and earlier calculators.

OR

B. Put on the math operators on the RIGHT side in order from top to bottom (/ , * , - , +). This matches the HP-28C and newer calculators (including the WP-34s).

This "Layout C" that is presently shown is an odd hybrid. It's the newer top-to-bottom order, but on the old side of the calculator. Obviously, the operator key layout is arbitrary, but 2 prior standards exist and calculator-usage facility (speed) is aided by not fighting muscle memory. It's bad enough HP created two different conventions already; please pick either one of those and don't make a third!

My brain is still hard-wired to the right side layout from my HP-15C that was well-exercised through engineering school 30 years ago. I've been retraining it (slowly) to be more HP-41 and "Classic" friendly. That's not easy; a third layout would be too much :-) I'm actually a bit surprised Walter would make it different from the WP-34s, since this machine will attract many of the same users.

Still, I am thrilled this is beginning to move again! I really think there remains a niche market for an advanced calculator aimed at professional scientists and engineers, not students. That might be the "big market" (and it ain't what it used to be), but it's not the only market. I anticipate this team collaboration will put out a fine product. I want one.

burkhard