HP calculators that never were

[grbrum]

We had a full year worth of effort cancelled at our factory this year, and this brought me to think of the upside if any.
What were the stories of HP calculators that never saw light of day, what were the known features, it’s place in the market and finally what were the future products that took advantage the “lost work”?

[Steve Simpkin]

(08-17-2023 04:13 AM)grbrum Wrote:  We had a full year worth of effort cancelled at our factory this year, and this brought me to think of the upside if any.
What were the stories of HP calculators that never saw light of day, what were the known features, it’s place in the market and finally what were the future products that took advantage the “lost work”?

Well here is one known example, the HP-95C.

"The HP-95C was one of the later 90 series calculators meant to be introduced in 1977. After an initial production run of fifty or a hundred units (recollections vary), HP abandoned the model and it was never sold to the public. Most of the units were rounded up and destroyed but the one pictured below hid in a desk drawer at HP for twenty years before coming to the museum."

https://www.hpmuseum.org/hp95c.htm

[Steve Simpkin]

Here is another HP example from around the turn of the 21st century, the HP Xpander.
https://www.hpmuseum.org/xpand.htm

[Valentin Albillo]

(08-17-2023 04:13 AM)grbrum Wrote:  What were the stories of HP calculators that never saw light of day, what were the known features, it’s place in the market [...]

This one might fit the bill as well ...

V.

[Steve Simpkin]

If you look at Texas Instruments, the most famous example of a canceled calculator project is the TI-88. Gene Wright has a great pair of videos on this model and why it was cancelled.
TI-88 Part 1: History and Go / No Go Decision (Gene Wright)
TI-88 Part 2: Features, Comparisons, and Verdict (Gene Wright)

Richard Nelson also explores the hardware of the TI-88 in this video.
TI-88 Hardware Tour (Richard Nelson)

[Didier Lachieze]

There are also the HP-56 and HP-66.

https://www.hpmuseum.org/designs/designs.htm#history

[teenix]

There is a 56 and 95C simulator at teenix.org

cheers

Tony

[Giuseppe Donnini]

Another example would be the HP-12R REAL ESTATE CONSULTANT, a Pioneer model for real estate agents. Given its model number, it was obviously meant to replace the HP-12C.



Here is some more information on it:

“The HP-12R Real Estate Consultant was another attempt at designing a replacement – for at least part of the HP-12C market – namely real estate agents (“realtors”) in the US who all seem to have an HP-12C on their desks to calculate loan financing. The line art on this issue’s cover is derived from a prototype HP-12R unit that I [Włodek Mier-Jędrzejowicz] have – but this was only a mockup – probably made to show to real estate agents and ask their opinions. The opinions seem to have been not all that favourable, since the HP-12C continued in production and the HP-12R was never seen on the market.”

(Source: “More HP-12C” by Włodek Mier-Jędrzejowicz, in: DATAFILE V21 N2, p.16)

[Jim Horn]

There were follow-ons to the HP-01 Digital Wrist Instrument (i.e. watch) planned - an HP-02 with an LCD and an HP-03. Both were cancelled before the '03 was even started.

Regarding other brands, the National NS-7100 is legendary as well. You can find references to that in this forum's search and the Web. I was amazed at the one I got to open up in my apartment...

[Didier Lachieze]

(08-17-2023 07:53 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  Regarding other brands, the National NS-7100 is legendary as well. You can find references to that in this forum's search and the Web. I was amazed at the one I got to open up in my apartment...

Hi Jim, were you able to retrieve the pictures you took of this NS-7100?

[Steve Simpkin]

(08-17-2023 07:53 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  ...
Regarding other brands, the National NS-7100 is legendary as well. You can find references to that in this forum's search and the Web. I was amazed at the one I got to open up in my apartment...

That is amazing! I suspect only a handful of people were able to hold one of these prototypes in real life, let alone open it.

Preliminary specifications for the NS-7100.

Here is the NS-7100 page in the 1976 Olympic Sales Company catalog
   

Here is the full 1976 Olympic Sales Company catalog where the above NS-7100 page was taken from. It shows calculator models (and their selling prices) that were available at the time the NS-7100 was being developed.

[badaze]

(08-17-2023 09:40 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  

(08-17-2023 07:53 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  ...
Regarding other brands, the National NS-7100 is legendary as well. You can find references to that in this forum's search and the Web. I was amazed at the one I got to open up in my apartment...

That is amazing! I suspect only a handful of people were able to hold one of these prototypes in real life, let alone open it.

Preliminary specifications for the NS-7100.

Here is the NS-7100 page in the 1976 Olympic Sales Company catalog


Here is the full 1976 Olympic Sales Company catalog where the above NS-7100 page was taken from. It shows calculator models (and their selling prices) that were available at the time the NS-7100 was being developed.

Very interesting. Thank you.

The HP 67 was cheaper than the 65.

[Jake Schwartz]

Here is one that never got out of the "proposal" stage: The HP Business Wizard, conceived in 2009 and never actually built:

Jake

[Gene]

There was also the HP-40b which was to be an HP-30b with a PC connection and the ability to write code on the PC and send to the calculator.

[Jim Horn]

(08-17-2023 08:55 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  

(08-17-2023 07:53 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  Regarding other brands, the National NS-7100 is legendary as well. You can find references to that in this forum's search and the Web. I was amazed at the one I got to open up in my apartment...

Hi Jim, were you able to retrieve the pictures you took of this NS-7100?

Sadly, no. All my photos are in the back of a 5m (16') deep storage unit 130km (80 miles) from here. To get to them, I'd have to unload the entire unit which can't be done there, and there's no room to do so where I live. So unfortunately all sorts of treasures have to wait until I purchase some land with space to do so. Hope springs eternal!