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In prehistoric days, engineering students carried slide rules. Fortunately, just as I entered college, HP came up with the original scientific calculator, the H

In prehistoric days, engineering students carried slide rules. Fortunately, just as I entered college, HP came up with the original scientific calculator, the HP-35.[1] Shortly later, HP introduced the HP-45, a significantly improved variant. I still remember taking $422.65 ($395 plus 7% tax) to HP's sales office in an upper floor of the Exxon building in NYC in order to buy one. These things weren't available at Best Buy (probably because Best Buy didn't happen until 1983). :-) The 1970s and 1980s were the heyday of HP calculators.[2] But all good things come to an end. I think it was Carly Fiorina that killed the calculator division, but I could be wrong. I still have a few working HP calculators from the old days, but typing "python" at a terminal prompt is usually more convenient. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-35 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_calculators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_calculators

joezydeco 11y ago
I still covet my 42S, but now it's safely in a drawer while I use Free42 on iOS. It's a beautiful thing. http://thomasokken.com/free42/ http://thomasokken.com/free42/
eitally 11y ago
My story is similar, but a few years later. My dad used his 12C for years, then bought me a 32SII for Christmas one year. A few years after that, I bought a 48 in high school (and suffered the whole time because the teachers assumed everyone had a TI82 and knew nothing about RPN). I know there are emulators, but there's nothing like a physical calculator.
auxym 11y ago
Recent mechanical engineering grad here, I use my (new model) 35s on a daily basis. Despite being somewhat cheaply built ('5' button broke early, still works but now wiggles around), I couldn't do without physical buttons and especially RPN. I'm also a heavy user of python for data crunching, but they're just different tools for different jobs. Now, that DM-15L is tempting. Bit expensive, but tempting. A boss of mine, during a co-op internship, still had an original 15c on his desk and banged on it daily. Great engineer. As a last aside, for a terminal RPN calc app, my favorite has been 'orpie' for a while, check it out, I think it's built in Ocaml too, which should satisfy HN FP-fetishists.

joezydeco 11y ago

I still covet my 42S, but now it's safely in a drawer while I use Free42 on iOS. It's a beautiful thing. http://thomasokken.com/free42/ http://thomasokken.com/free42/

eitally 11y ago

My story is similar, but a few years later. My dad used his 12C for years, then bought me a 32SII for Christmas one year. A few years after that, I bought a 48 in high school (and suffered the whole time because the teachers assumed everyone had a TI82 and knew nothing about RPN). I know there are emulators, but there's nothing like a physical calculator.

auxym 11y ago

Recent mechanical engineering grad here, I use my (new model) 35s on a daily basis. Despite being somewhat cheaply built ('5' button broke early, still works but now wiggles around), I couldn't do without physical buttons and especially RPN. I'm also a heavy user of python for data crunching, but they're just different tools for different jobs. Now, that DM-15L is tempting. Bit expensive, but tempting. A boss of mine, during a co-op internship, still had an original 15c on his desk and banged on it daily. Great engineer. As a last aside, for a terminal RPN calc app, my favorite has been 'orpie' for a while, check it out, I think it's built in Ocaml too, which should satisfy HN FP-fetishists.