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Introduction and Thankyou
07-23-2017, 03:18 AM (This post was last modified: 07-23-2017 03:22 AM by bshoring.)
Post: #21
RE: Introduction and Thankyou
(07-18-2017 11:56 AM)Zac Bruce Wrote:  Hi all,

I've been lurking around this site for quite some time and thought it was about time to sign up, not because I have anything particularly to add to the discussions but more to say thank you to everyone for the discussions had here, and the wealth of knowledge about HP calculators.

I'm currently enrolled in as an undergrad in accounting, and I stumbled upon HP calculators almost completely by chance. When looking for a calculator that would suit for my finance subjects the 12c often came up in discussions. The idea of RPN interested me, and so off to ebay I went. Now I've absolutely fallen in love with RPN and the 12c, and own a couple. Also I bought a HP Prime, which I don't really need but I was using it to check my answers during a statistics course I was taking (during breaks at work, no computers). It's a beautiful calculator but well beyond anything I need. Now I've really caught the bug- I just bid a whole dollar on a slightly damage 19Bii that I look likely to win, and I'm already thinking about trying to collect all the business/financial models, or at least the RPN ones.

I've also developed a general interest in the history and development of HP calculators, and have become determined to learn all the capabilities of RPN and the 12c in particular. Surprisingly the 12c is allowed in our exams, and I believe is the only programmable calculator to be allowed (the 10c also, but good luck to anyone trying to buy one here I suppose). I'm submitting an application to the university to have other RPN HP calculators added to the list.

You would think that being enrolled in accounting that I would have found some kind of kindred spirit in my love for calculators and RPN, but alas, nobody seems to care much at all. Today I was reading about calculating mark ups from required margins, nice simple stuff and was having much too much fun playing around with the calculator. The fact that I actively think about what is happening in various calculations and how the stack is operating etc. means that the information is sticking much more than if I just had to memorize how to do the calculations.

Anyway, enough from me. I'll probably just go back to lurking. No doubt as I get further through my degree I'm going to think of ways to write programs that will help with calculations in exams and so I'll come back and share anything I come up with. I think most of it would have already been done by someone else at this point though!


Kind regards,

Zac
Hi Zac,

Thanks for your introduction. It is very heartening to me to see a young person, my grandson's age, interested in HP calculators and RPN. I've tried to introduce RPN to a few people your age, but they didn't seem too interested. I really appreciate your interest and excitement.

You've no doubt heard a little about the HP-35, which was the little marvel that started all of this in 1972, although there was a big desktop calculator/computer by HP in 1968 that inspired the HP-35. I was already working in the insurance field when the HP-35 came out, and at $395 it cost 4 months rent, so I didn't buy it then, but have one now. I head some college guys actually sold their cars so they could get one of these magic machines. A year after the HP-35 came out, HP introduced the first financial calculator, the HP-80 and the HP-12C is a direct descendant of that, but with many improvements. In 1973 memory was super expensive, so the HP-80 had to do all the financial calculations with just the 4 register stack, plus one storage register (exactly the same amount of memory as the HP-35). But it must have seemed a super computer when it came out. In between the HP-80 and the HP-12C, there were 7 more financial models (HP-70, HP-22, HP-27, HP-92, HP-37E, HP-38E and HP-38C). My personal favorite is the HP-38C, which the HP-12C is based on. It works almost the same as the 12C, but has a vertical format, LED display, and doesn't have built in bonds or depreciation. The 12C has a big advantage, though, as its batteries last for decades, whereas with the Spice Series 38C, the battery only lasts a few hours on one charge. If you are curious, there is a wonderful iPhone simulator for the 38C, called RPN-38 CX.

Love hearing from you. I hope you can inspire some other younger folks to get into RPN.


Regards,
Bob
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Messages In This Thread
Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-18-2017, 11:56 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - rprosperi - 07-18-2017, 02:16 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - BobVA - 07-18-2017, 09:10 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - lemontea - 07-18-2017, 10:13 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - KF6GPE - 07-18-2017, 11:47 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-19-2017, 12:20 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - SlideRule - 07-19-2017, 12:04 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - rprosperi - 07-19-2017, 03:09 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - lemontea - 07-19-2017, 11:46 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-20-2017, 01:21 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - rprosperi - 07-20-2017, 01:52 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Gamo - 07-20-2017, 09:30 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Gamo - 07-20-2017, 09:59 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-20-2017, 11:27 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - KF6GPE - 07-20-2017, 01:40 PM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - KF6GPE - 07-21-2017, 06:27 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - bshoring - 07-23-2017 03:18 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-23-2017, 04:15 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Zac Bruce - 07-27-2017, 05:15 AM
RE: Introduction and Thankyou - Gamo - 07-27-2017, 07:18 AM



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