My personal calculator history

[knife31]

Hi everyone
In 1979 I joined PPC. Being Military at Fort Hood we were out in the field when I got a box of all of the PPC Journals to date. Pretty interesting trying to carry that box around for the next two weeks while it's raining, mud etc.., and well anyone whose been in the military knows. I have a large box on my shelve of all the one's thru the years that were published before they stopped publishing. Still drag it down occasionally, lots of cool articles.
RH

[ajay_m]

Well, I had a mintron 4 function calculator then an hp45 which I sold to get an hp25.
Then I got a Casio pb80 and then after that the PC revolution was upon us and I didn't think about calculators until this year. Now I still have the mintron and Casio in working order though sadly the hp25 failed a long while ago.
Then when I was in Canada recently I found a mint condition hp11c in a pawn shop for about £35 and that rekindled my interest. I purchased an hp15c CE and have just won an eBay auction for a mint condition hp67 with box and all accessories. And I wouldn't mind an hp16c as well.

[ht003]

It was during the first oil crisis, around February 1974, when I was on my way to visit my then-girlfriend (now wife) who was studying in Münster, driving my faithful little VW Beetle. I was leisurely cruising along when I came across a driver stranded in the middle of nowhere, out of fuel. Always prepared as a Beetle driver, I pulled out my reserve canister with 5 liters.

The guy was overjoyed, not just because he now had fuel, but it seemed fate had just smiled upon him. He reached behind him, handed me a small package, and said, "Thank you, my friend, here, take this." In my hands, I held my very first calculator! Looking back, I would say that was the spark for my insatiable passion for anything that can calculate—and the smaller, the better.

As fate would have it, that calculator came in very handy shortly after during my studies. When I was tasked with developing an electroluminescent display that had to be driven with 50V and a few kilohertz of AC voltage, I knew: This would be an adventure! Unfortunately, at that time, there was more idea than budget available. So, I remembered my little calculator.

I quickly built an interface that connected the LED display of the calculator with the new display—and it worked! The thing actually came to life and even earned me co-authorship in a publication. Naturally, that good old piece still exists—it stands in my garage today and no longer works. But every time I walk past it, I grin a little. It's a charming reminder that from a small fuel stop, something quite big can emerge.

This is a true story, „beautyfied“ by ChatGPT, see pictures from 1974 and 2024
Best
Dieter

[Dave1947]

My first electronic calculator was the HP-35 that I bought in 1973 (still have it). Before that I used my Versalog slide rule for everything except addition and subtraction. Next was an HP-11C that I wore out. When I tried to replace the 11C it was no longer available so I bought an HP-15C that I still have and use.

[Citabria]

1974 - Sperry 663
1975 - Bowmar MX140 scientific
1976 - TI SR-51-II scientific
1977 - TI SR-56 programmable
1978 - TI-59 card programmable

In 1991 I married into an HP 45. Finally!

[rprosperi]

"Marrying up" for access to wealth and power are common, but this is the first case I've heard of for access to HP machines. Well done sir!!

[Hiwi]

I started with a TI57 at school in 1978/1979

1982 a HP41CV with Cardreader, added later some peripherals like IL Printer, IL Cassette, Math Rom. Time Module and X-Functions. Still in use, but as a HP41CL.

As a member of the CCD i bought a CCD Modul for a subscription price.

1984 HP34C, later replaced with a 15C , which I used many years in my office.

1988 HP71, HP75, Thinkjet, Video Interface, IL Disk. Bought used from an collegue.

1990 HP28S - but I never warmed up to it, because I did't understand the ingenious approach of it. For what do i need a solver :-? I changed my mind during the years and i am using it now every day. Nice machine.

1992/1995 HP48SX/G still in use with Sparcom PIM and for complex calculations.

Ralf

[brrm]

During my first years at grammar school I used the Aristo Scholar slide rule for mathematics and physics. Then it turned out that my year would be the first to use an electronic calculator for the final exams. This was in the second half of the 1970's.

Most of my classmates opted for the Texas Instruments TI-30 or a CASIO but I wanted a TI-57 because it was programmable. The TI-57 gave up during my second year at university, after a mere 5 years of use. If I remember well the problem was the LED display.

Even though we had computers by that time a calculator was needed so my father bought me an HP 15C. This was in 1982 or 83. The 15C has served me well ever since and I still use it every day. It's always in my briefcase when at work.

Anecdote - every now and then a colleague in need of a calculator asks if they can use mine. I always warn them: "You're welcome to use it but you probably won't be able to." They then give me a very puzzled look, grab the 15C and walk away, only to return within seconds. They put the calculator back on my desk and grumble something like 'I can't work with this thing.'

10 years back I also bought a 50g, for the fun of programming and for the financial functions, which the 15C lacks. When you have worked with RPN almost your entire life it's impossible to use an algebraic calculator.

[naddy]

I updated the initial post to reflect the fact that I have now dipped a toe into the Pioneer model pool.

As impressive as the HP-42S is, I can't make good use of it. Complex numbers as a first-class data type? I haven't really needed them in decades. Matrices? Linear algebra is something of a black hole in my math education and solving systems of linear equations doesn't come up. Most importantly, the machine begs to be programmed, for the user to develop their own library of programs. Well, I just haven't done that in decades, so I'm unlikely to do so now. Nope, an HP-42S would be wasted on me.

It came down to the choice of HP32S versus HP-32SII. I agonized sufficiently over this that I actually got both models and compared them head-to-head for a couple of weeks. Finally I settled for the 32S and resold the 32SII again. Did I mention that I'm not a collector and don't want to become one?

Most people prefer the 32SII. And that's fine. The 32SII adds:

• Equations in algebraic syntax. I can see why people love this and for many it will obviate the need for programming entirely, but on an RPN calculator this feels like a very square peg in a round hole.
• Fractions. Nice, but I never missed them. This may be a feature more for the Americans, who measure things in eighths for an inch or such, than here in decimal Europe.
• Various minor improvements that don't add much (R↑, \(\sigma_{x}\), individually allocated statistics variables, a few unit conversions, ...)
  

So it really came down to the revamped user interface, with two shift keys, fewer and flatter menus at the cost of four symbols per key. This imposes its own cognitive load, although it might just be a matter of getting used to it. But not everything has been flattened: you still need four (or, in extreme cases, five) key presses to set the display format. And the down function now requires shift, ugh.

In the end the HP-32S design just felt... conceptually cleaner, if that makes any sense.

The key labels also looked less robust on the 32SII. I don't know if those stand prolonged use or will wear off.

[Ren]

(11-25-2024 02:15 PM)brrm Wrote:  Anecdote - every now and then a colleague in need of a calculator asks if they can use mine. I always warn them: "You're welcome to use it but you probably won't be able to." They then give me a very puzzled look, grab the 15C and walk away, only to return within seconds. They put the calculator back on my desk and grumble something like 'I can't work with this thing.'

Too many years have gone since I loaned a calculator to a cow-orker who came back and said the same thing.
I just don't remember if the type of Notation was reversed.

Ren
dona nobis pacem

[Geoff Quickfall]

“Anecdote - every now and then a colleague in need of a calculator asks if they can use mine. I always warn them: "You're welcome to use it but you probably won't be able to." They then give me a very puzzled look, grab the 15C and walk away, only to return within seconds. They put the calculator back on my desk and grumble something like 'I can't work with this thing.'”

I like the three shift keys on the 67 and the 32SII keyboard due to there multiple colours and confusing lables.

Fun to lend that to a co-worker along with the RPN and see their reaction.

Cheers