6 ms·

Their calculators was awesome and later bought only HP computers and printers but then things changed not for the better sadly.

abhinav22 6y ago
If you have an iphone, try out this awesome, free RPN calculator. Link: https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 Reviews: https://appgrooves.com/ios/1451413517/rpn-30/ashok-khanna/positive https://appgrooves.com/ios/1451413517/rpn-30/ashok-khanna/po... Note: I am the Author, but this is not spammy, I already have 10,000 users and don’t charge for it anyway :)
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  It is nice. I will say that PCalc has been around for a long time, and does RPN (along with a lot of other stuff). PCalc has been a fundamental tool for me for ages. That said, I’ve never become comfortable with RPN.
  - abhinav22 6y ago
    That’s great to hear. It is interesting on RPN, I got used to it and normal entry feels foreign to me now. I guess you need to use it for a while to get used to it. Thing is I only do basic calculations with RPN, I can see how it may be jarring for scientific calculations or longer multi form ones (although there are many who are very comfortable and prefer this mode of entry).
    - ghaff 6y ago
      You need to get used to how you chain calculations but if you do it on a regular basis it becomes second nature. I imagine the additional display lines of the HP-42 make it easier than the one line displays of most of these calculators.
- jonsen 6y ago
  > If you have an iphone, ... and iOS 13+ :-/
  - abhinav22 6y ago
    Yeah I know :-/ I refactored it to Swift UI but Apple didn’t provide backwards comparability for old iOS, which I didn’t know until it’s too late. There’s nothing that special in Swift UI that forces it to be 13+, but that’s life
    - jonsen 6y ago
      Looks really interesting, so I’ll try to remember it until I get a new iPhone.
- FullyFunctional 6y ago
  My favorite calculator app is Free42 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/free42/id337692629 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/free42/id337692629) which is a (AFAICT) faithful HP-42S reimplementation. Besides the obvious functionality, I really love the haptic feedback (configurable) and the graphics. Recommended (it's also free).
  - ghaff 6y ago
    It's nice and would probably be my goto except that I used an HP41 for so many years that's just what I'm used to. (And TBH I don't need either to add up or multiply numbers from time to time :-) ) The Swiss Micro calculators are tempting but I know I'd just be indulging in nostalgia. I have zero need for anything beyond my iPhone app and a couple of HP-1x series landscape format models.
mongol 6y ago
Where did HP step out of the path that changed their reputation? Was there a crucial decision where they made the "wrong choice"?
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  Hired Carly Fiorina as CEO
- linguae 6y ago
  The changes started in the late 1990s. Some blame this exclusively on Carly Fiorina, but I want to hear from more people knowledgeable about the situation at HP during this time, since I heard from somewhere that the board was interested in moving away from the HP Way, and they hired Fiorina precisely to change HP. From the 1970s until the late 1990s, HP's calculators were renowned for their build quality, similar to how IBM ThinkPads were renowned for their quality. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, some high-quality calculators such as the HP-32SII and HP-48GX were replaced by calculators like the HP-33S and HP-49G, respectively, that did not have the same build quality. This led to HP's older calculators being sold on eBay and other secondhand markets at high prices. (Thankfully HP's calculator quality would improve in the late 2000s with the HP-35S and HP-50g.) I've heard similar things about HP's printers and personal computers; there is a discernible difference in quality between those built before the late 1990s and those built afterwards.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    Seems like the typical strategy of arbitraging a brand’s reputation by cutting quality and therefore costs, but still charging the same price. Until information about the brand’s changes in quality pervade the market, the sellers can pocket the extra profit from lowered costs.
    - iguy 6y ago
      I mostly agree. I guess the counter-argument is to claim that the market for the original quality was going away. This does happen, too: the first-mover can essentially spend monopoly profits on making something which makes engineers happy, if they choose to. But as competitors catch up, customers start to vote with their wallets for the minimum usable quality. The early leader may choose to sell the same low-quality items and charge 20% extra for their name, but they can't choose to sell the high-quality items at 3x the price, if there are no buyers.

abhinav22 6y ago

If you have an iphone, try out this awesome, free RPN calculator. Link: https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 Reviews: https://appgrooves.com/ios/1451413517/rpn-30/ashok-khanna/positive https://appgrooves.com/ios/1451413517/rpn-30/ashok-khanna/po... Note: I am the Author, but this is not spammy, I already have 10,000 users and don’t charge for it anyway :)

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
It is nice. I will say that PCalc has been around for a long time, and does RPN (along with a lot of other stuff). PCalc has been a fundamental tool for me for ages. That said, I’ve never become comfortable with RPN.
- abhinav22 6y ago
  That’s great to hear. It is interesting on RPN, I got used to it and normal entry feels foreign to me now. I guess you need to use it for a while to get used to it. Thing is I only do basic calculations with RPN, I can see how it may be jarring for scientific calculations or longer multi form ones (although there are many who are very comfortable and prefer this mode of entry).
  - ghaff 6y ago
    You need to get used to how you chain calculations but if you do it on a regular basis it becomes second nature. I imagine the additional display lines of the HP-42 make it easier than the one line displays of most of these calculators.
jonsen 6y ago
> If you have an iphone, ... and iOS 13+ :-/
- abhinav22 6y ago
  Yeah I know :-/ I refactored it to Swift UI but Apple didn’t provide backwards comparability for old iOS, which I didn’t know until it’s too late. There’s nothing that special in Swift UI that forces it to be 13+, but that’s life
  - jonsen 6y ago
    Looks really interesting, so I’ll try to remember it until I get a new iPhone.
FullyFunctional 6y ago
My favorite calculator app is Free42 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/free42/id337692629 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/free42/id337692629) which is a (AFAICT) faithful HP-42S reimplementation. Besides the obvious functionality, I really love the haptic feedback (configurable) and the graphics. Recommended (it's also free).
- ghaff 6y ago
  It's nice and would probably be my goto except that I used an HP41 for so many years that's just what I'm used to. (And TBH I don't need either to add up or multiply numbers from time to time :-) ) The Swiss Micro calculators are tempting but I know I'd just be indulging in nostalgia. I have zero need for anything beyond my iPhone app and a couple of HP-1x series landscape format models.

mongol 6y ago

Where did HP step out of the path that changed their reputation? Was there a crucial decision where they made the "wrong choice"?

Gibbon1 6y ago
Hired Carly Fiorina as CEO
linguae 6y ago
The changes started in the late 1990s. Some blame this exclusively on Carly Fiorina, but I want to hear from more people knowledgeable about the situation at HP during this time, since I heard from somewhere that the board was interested in moving away from the HP Way, and they hired Fiorina precisely to change HP. From the 1970s until the late 1990s, HP's calculators were renowned for their build quality, similar to how IBM ThinkPads were renowned for their quality. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, some high-quality calculators such as the HP-32SII and HP-48GX were replaced by calculators like the HP-33S and HP-49G, respectively, that did not have the same build quality. This led to HP's older calculators being sold on eBay and other secondhand markets at high prices. (Thankfully HP's calculator quality would improve in the late 2000s with the HP-35S and HP-50g.) I've heard similar things about HP's printers and personal computers; there is a discernible difference in quality between those built before the late 1990s and those built afterwards.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Seems like the typical strategy of arbitraging a brand’s reputation by cutting quality and therefore costs, but still charging the same price. Until information about the brand’s changes in quality pervade the market, the sellers can pocket the extra profit from lowered costs.
  - iguy 6y ago
    I mostly agree. I guess the counter-argument is to claim that the market for the original quality was going away. This does happen, too: the first-mover can essentially spend monopoly profits on making something which makes engineers happy, if they choose to. But as competitors catch up, customers start to vote with their wallets for the minimum usable quality. The early leader may choose to sell the same low-quality items and charge 20% extra for their name, but they can't choose to sell the high-quality items at 3x the price, if there are no buyers.