Request. HP calculators (desktop/handheld) production timeline

[pier4r]

While I read the hp journal issues (n1), those at least that cover calculators (desktop or handheld), I realized that sometimes hp released a lot of models in one time while other powerful models were still available.

So I was wondering whether hp overcrowded its model offering at certain times, but I am not aware of any existing list of models sold at the same time. I mean there are plenty of list with the introduction date (that helps), but not with overlapping years of production.
Example: http://www.hpmuseum.org/timeline.htm
(there seems to be a timeline on photobucket, but one page of that site is able to use endless gigabyte of ram)

If I have to estimate from dates picked here and there (hp journal, forum posts, wiki, hpcalc.org youtube files, etc.) I would say the following (feel free to take and extend it! Indeed I made it with plain text to be accessible):

The code block in MyBB is breaking all the formatting, so I moved the main content on the wiki4hp

I tried to group models by "branch" or family. I am pretty sure I made a lot of errors, but one has to start, perfection doesn't exist (or better, everything is already perfect), so feedback are welcomed.

At least now I have an idea how many models were available. It seems that the increased availability of computers, especially mobile ones, killed the amount of models available. Plus the fact that the functions offered by a calculator are more or less mature since long time so several models can be consolidated in fewer products.

n1: the hpjournal is a goldmine of pointers and nice info to read. Why didn't I read it before? I strongly recommend it! Really well done, at least the few issues that I checked, from 1968 to 1984. Do you know anything similar? It is really nice.

[Greg]

It's interesting to see the HP-55 and HP-25 on the same year in your chart. I'm not doubting your sources and I think it's probably a matter of a lot happening in the same year.

The HP-55 is a classic series calculator which uses the same processor as the HP-35, though there may have been some tweaks over time.

The HP-25 is one of the first of the woodstock series with the new processor. There are different opcodes (and many of the old ones) and they merged the two parts of the processor into a single chip.

My interest has been in seeing where the HP-25 came from and it seems to have come from the HP-55. New processor, new form factor; but internally still 49 steps, also stored in RAM rather than the HP-65's rotating 600 bit register, (internally) the user program counters are both stored as actual step numbers (instead of "62F" and similar on the HP-67/29C).

Hope this adds a little to your understanding of the timeline. It'd be interesting to spread out the year a bit (might not be practical) and maybe know more about the development timeline (might not be known or, if it is, might not have hard date like "today we're starting on the HP-nn").

[pier4r]

I started the timeline as a quick work (well, some hours) hoping that others with more knowledge would chime in with corrections and additions (or linking a finished work that I missed). But so far I got only your reply.

[EdS2]

A timeline is certainly interesting. Perhaps with all the HP Journals it wouldn't be too hard to subdivide into quarter-years.

There's a nice presentation of a timeline here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_o..._II_family
with both a tabular and a graphical view.

[Sylvain Cote]

mycalcdb web site has an introduction and retirement dates for most models.
Unfortunately, the site seems is currently not available, but you can see the content on Wayback Machine here: home & HP calcs

[pier4r]

(03-18-2018 12:11 PM)EdS2 Wrote:  A timeline is certainly interesting. Perhaps with all the HP Journals it wouldn't be too hard to subdivide into quarter-years.

There's a nice presentation of a timeline here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_o..._II_family
with both a tabular and a graphical view.

Yes the idea would be the same. But for starters I picked a simple format, still comprehensible. The hpjournals, though, don't report the end of a product, nor all the introductions.

(03-18-2018 12:16 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  mycalcdb web site has an introduction and retirement dates for most models.

Nice one, here http://mycalcdb.free.fr/main.php?l=0&b=1 (I can see the site)
Although it is not that update for the model after 2010.

Another site to mirror?

[pier4r]

can anyone really use some credit card sized calculator? The button size and the tactile feeling are important as input interface of a device.

[rprosperi]

(03-18-2018 03:41 PM)emersone12 Wrote:  Swiss Micros appears to have stopped selling their compact credit card sized calculator range as the smaller models are no longer listed on the Swiss Micros "Order form" page.

This is odd as the carousel on the home page still shows the cc-sized models prominently. Maybe just a temporary situation?

Also, there seem to be 2 different SM website layouts, and one never knows which style one will experience when visiting; the original one (my preference) has the menus listed horizontally across the top of the page, the other has only a "Home" button in the upper left, which opens a vertical menu when clicked, with substantially the same menus choices (=content pages). There seem to subtle changes in content, but as they're not available simultaneously to compare, it could be my memory that's wrong. At the moment, the latter layout is active, and perhaps this one doesn't have the cc-models listed.

[Eric Rechlin]

(03-18-2018 06:53 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Also, there seem to be 2 different SM website layouts, and one never knows which style one will experience when visiting; the original one (my preference) has the menus listed horizontally across the top of the page, the other has only a "Home" button in the upper left, which opens a vertical menu when clicked, with substantially the same menus choices (=content pages).

Which one you see is determined by how wide your browser window is. If it's under about 1160 pixels you get your non-preferred layout. This is presumably to optimize for mobile, but the threshold is set way too high; IMHO it should be something under 800 pixels instead.

[rprosperi]

(03-19-2018 01:30 AM)Eric Rechlin Wrote:  Which one you see is determined by how wide your browser window is. If it's under about 1160 pixels you get your non-preferred layout. This is presumably to optimize for mobile, but the threshold is set way too high; IMHO it should be something under 800 pixels instead.

Nice find, thanks Eric. Yes, much too high a threshold for most users, but it hints that whoever is deciding such things is likely using an iPad as a sample mobile device. This was bugging me, I just could not see any pattern in when/why it changed. I'll call it subtle, as otherwise all I could say is Doh!

[Accutron]

I made this graph for my website several years ago. It only covers personal calculator models up through 2003 (no Loveland machines and no pseudo-HP Chinacorp models), it only shows them by year instead of exact date, and I can't guarantee that it's 100% correct. The graph is primarily derived from Rick Furr's table of introduction dates.

[rprosperi]

(03-19-2018 01:00 PM)Accutron Wrote:  I made this graph for my website several years ago...

Very, very nice Accutron, thanks very much for sharing this.

Any chance you will extend it for the generally inferior machines introduced after the early 2000's at some point? There are a few machines in the later years worth tracking (Prime, 10bII+, 20b/30b). Seems a shame to have it almost complete... Also, out of curiosity what tool is this nice chart made in?

[pier4r]

(03-19-2018 01:00 PM)Accutron Wrote:  I made this graph for my website several years ago. It only covers personal calculator models up through 2003 (no Loveland machines and no pseudo-HP Chinacorp models), it only shows them by year instead of exact date, and I can't guarantee that it's 100% correct. The graph is primarily derived from Rick Furr's table of introduction dates.

http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/pic/hp_production.gif

Yes it is exactly what I would like to do after a while, of course including also the HP china models (at least the 49/50 series, Prime and what will come)

[Accutron]

I originally attempted to make a complete chart, but I couldn't find the dates for certain later models. I also had to fit it on a webpage, so I lopped it off after 2003 when HP discontinued all of the remaining Saturn machines.

I made the chart in Excel 2007, took a screenshot of it and turned it into a floating GIF in Photoshop.

[Dieter]

(03-19-2018 02:45 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(03-19-2018 01:30 AM)Eric Rechlin Wrote:  Which one you see is determined by how wide your browser window is. If it's under about 1160 pixels you get your non-preferred layout. This is presumably to optimize for mobile, but the threshold is set way too high; IMHO it should be something under 800 pixels instead.

Nice find, thanks Eric. Yes, much too high a threshold for most users, but it hints that whoever is deciding such things is likely using an iPad as a sample mobile device.

You just experiencend an example of "responsive web design". As there are many users with mobile devices out there, the layout of a webpage is no longer static. Instead it changes dynamically so that it can be viewed on tablets and mobile phones as well as on regular desktop computers. This may include no less than five different layouts: desktop, tablet (landscape), tablet (portrait), mobile (landscape) and mobile (portrait). The switch between the different layouts may be based on the available viewport (width in pixels) and/or other criteria, such as the operating system or browser. There always is a chance that this detection gives a wrong result so that for instance you get the tablet version although you're browsing with a desktop computer.

Dieter

[Dave Frederickson]

(03-19-2018 01:00 PM)Accutron Wrote:  I made this graph for my website several years ago. It only covers personal calculator models up through 2003 (no Loveland machines and no pseudo-HP Chinacorp models), it only shows them by year instead of exact date, and I can't guarantee that it's 100% correct. The graph is primarily derived from Rick Furr's table of introduction dates.

Can you add the 71B?

[Accutron]

(03-20-2018 06:46 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  Can you add the 71B?

I could, but then I'll have to add the 75C/D, 95LX, 100LX, 320LX, 85/86/87 etc, to maintain conformity. The graph was intended as a footnote reference tacked onto the end of several articles for small HP key-per-function machines, so I excluded everything that wasn't APD, and everything that had a QWERTY keyboard, as those machines were not highly relevant to the articles in question.

I'd be happy to make a more complete graph if somebody else feels like tracking down all of the models and dates, though I suspect anybody could replicate my Excel table.

[AndiGer]

Back to the original question ...

Have you seen Rick Furr's site http://www.vcalc.net/hp-date.htm ?

It is somehow not reachable with my laptop computer but my smartphone both connected by WiFi in the same network.
The problem of not being able to access the site already was in discussion 2 years ago ... http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-5488.html
I could access it thru a public proxy as Marcus suggested in the thread
Very helpful and detailed - especially discontinuation dates.
Andi

[pier4r]

I cannot see the site for some reason.

Anyway this may be also useful: http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-10410.html

[AndiGer]

Did you try thru the proxy?
Quote from the old thread:
You might be successful with a proxy between you and the site. Here is a list of free servers: http://www.publicproxyservers.com/proxy/list1.html