Just bought a HP-67 calculator at an auction

[Kostas Kritsilas]

(10-04-2020 12:03 PM)calc-calcs Wrote:  

(08-25-2020 11:12 PM)teenix Wrote:  Yes, but aren't we talking 50 years or so, what manufacturer in their right mind would create products to last that long even if they could, especially in the cheap throw away world of today. The fact the many old calculators of that era are still working surely says a lot about the manufacturing standards. I don't know how long the engineers expected the devices to last especially with rapid technology advances, but I would doubt this long.

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EXACTLY. Nuff said I would think.

HP was using silicone rubber for probe insulation in the 1960s. I don't have the background in plastics/polymers to say for sure, but silicone rubber seems to be an ideal material for this application. I don't see it as costing any more than the polyurethane that they used.

HP engineering for most of the time the company existed was superb. Not just good, superb. They were the equal of any aerospace company, and came up with products that were mind-blowingly good. Take a look at the HP 3325 Frequency Sunthesizer some time, or the HP 3458 multimeter. All from the 1970s and 1980s, and so good that they haven't been surpassed. The 3458a is still in production. The point of all this, is that HP, back then (in the same era as the red LED calculators) didn't think about whether the product was supposed to last 3 years, or 300 years; they just made the best possible product. And in many cases, the product might go obsolete before it would break down.

They simply missed the boat on the card reader wheel material. Happens.