Vorhin eingetroffen und sofort ganz oben auf dem Stapel meiner zu lesenden Bücher: „Empire of the Sum – The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator“, das neue Buch von Keith Houston.
Ich hatte bereits große Freude an seinen Titeln „Shady Characters“ und „The Book“, und so bin ich auf „Empire of the Sum“ sehr gespannt. – Daneben der HP-32S aus dem Jahr 1988, der heute noch so gut funktioniert wie am ersten Tag1.
- Lediglich etwas Staub kam hinter das Glas des Displays; die Streifen und die dunklen Spuren sind Reflexionen.↩
I’m looking forward to reading this after first hearing about it on Bleistift. I wonder what the Venn diagram of leadheads and calculator fans looks like?
I love HP’s RPN calculators. My main calculator has been an HP-12C for nearly 15 years. Before that, I used the various Casio scientifics but never really ‘clicked’ with one until I read about the 12C and sweet-talked the admin assistant into ordering me one on my work’s dime. After a week or so of using it, I couldn’t (and now can’t) go back. Using a calculator without a stack seems a bit like using a pen without ink now.
My ‘collection’ consists of a few HP-12Cs I got quite cheaply, one older than I am(!), and also an 11C scientific that I’ve never really used. I don’t have much call for its scientific functions so the 12C works best for me. The delta percentage key is so useful.
Is the HP-32S your main calculator? Do you still use it, or have you left it behind in the Age of Excel? I find the HP-12C very handy for crunching little batches of numbers and a bit faster to do little tests and check ideas than firing up Excel.
Regarding the Venn diagram of leadheads and calculator fans: That’s an interesting question! I wouldn’t be surprised if the overlap was very large.
Thank you for sharing your calculator history! The HP-12C is a true classic. – A while ago I was on the verge of buying the HP-15C as a limited edition reissue, but then common sense set in; it would just sit in the drawer after all.
My first calculator was the TI-30, which I got at school. We were the only year group that first had the slide rule and then the calculator in class (that was really exciting back then!). A few years later I got the TI-57 and then the TI-59, whose card reader was very impressive. I got rid of these devices many years ago and only kept the HP-32S from my studies.
To be honest, I rarely use the HP-32S anymore, mainly because I don’t have to do that much math, and especially nothing complicated. But I take it out of the drawer from time to time, use it and enjoy the great technology from back then!