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Currently I'm working in a big office with several engineers around me. Just for fun I put a different HP-calculators on my desktop nearly every day. It's interesting (frustrating), how people react on them:

HP-32E: No reaction at all

HP-41C: No reaction at all

HP-28S: No reaction...

HP-48GX: No reaction...

various combinations of the above: still nothing...

HP-32E AND HP-48GX: "For what do you need two calculators?" - "I collect them. This one is 20 years old" - "Uh hmm, ok"

HP-100LX: "Are you a technic freak? Making notes in such a funny thing? What do you do if the batteries are out?"

HP-49G: 3 (Three!) people notice it. "BOOAH! COOL! What monster calculator is that? can it fly? Is it a remote control?... "

a Palm IIIe: "Oh cool, you've got a PALM!!"

So maybe HP's newer marketing decisions about design aren't that bad. Somehow frustrating...

What are your experiences?

Holger

PS: Tomorrow I'll try an 11C...

Holger:

And the day after tomorrow, try an HP-65 or -67. Make it a point to have several magnetic cards lying around. Maybe that will elicit some response.

-EM

Nice idea !

I'll try the same next week, with an assortment of Voyagers, and Pioneers, plus the odd HP-25 and HP-71B, just to see the outcome.

In my past, non-deliberate experience, people barely react to any HP calculator, except the HP-71B, because it looks classy and pricey and has a wonderfully-looking keyboard, the HP-12C because it's so well known, and among non-HP models, the awesome Sharp EL-5101 advanced calculator, because of its sheer beauty.

I had at least one much better reaction.

41CV on my desk, on a out-of-office event: "Wow, my dad had a lot of those. I will bring them to you tomorrow." So I got a 21, a 32e and a 11c.


I guess that showing a HP to the Nintendo generation is useless - unless you want to look *very old*.

Otherwise, I got some nice conversation with 40+ years old - HP brings back good memories to many people that were in University in the 70s and 80s.

An HP9100 or two on the desktop should get a response... also leave a few mag cards for them lounging around.

I brought in my 67 a few times. Students were fascinated. One thought that the magnetic cards were a great idea. A couple asked if various office supply chains carried them, or if they could be ordered on line from HP! Many commented on the robust construction and feel of the calculator, and many just liked the look of it.

Hello Holger,

I think you made something wrong. That's not crasy enough. ;-)

I have the ultimate desktop background picture for your PC here (full size). Using this, everybody will think you're nut.

A little help, there are 12 different calculators. The HP38/39/40/48/49 aren't among them. Happy searching.

Cheers

Christoph

A few weeks ago my HP-48 stopped working and before I could locate a 41-CX to replace it, I brought in my HP-25C (still in perfect condition)to use for a few days or weeks.

Well, it got noticed! I'm the owner of the company and none of us are engineers, teachers, mathmaticians, etc. We sell tradeshow displays and when my assistant saw the 25C she started laughing!

She asked what the heck was on my desk? I explained the situation and she took my caluclator and proceeded to show it to the rest of my employees, most of which made wise-cracks all day long. Most hadn't seen an LED calcualtor since they were children. When I showed the programming capabilities, some were impressed, but not enough to actually own one.

Anyway, it was fun to give the old 25C a good shakedown for a few weeks and she perfomed as well as she did when I received her for Christmas from my parents in 1976

- Mike

Depending the category of the community you're in...

According to the presentation of my humble calculator's collection held at our local museum last month,... here's some observations :

- Young kids love TI's (datamath)

- Teanagers love TI's(models 83,83+,...)

- Adults love TI-59, TI-58C and have lot of funs with them.

- Scientific people loves HP RPN...

Woodstock --> highly interested (all models)

Peanut --> very impressed (HP41C & accessories)

Spice --> not really (all models, even the HP34C has no more attentions than it should be)

Voyager --> highly interested (specially the HP16C)

Champion --> Not at all

Pionneer --> greatly interested (the HP42S, HP-27S)
and the surprising HP-20S (even not RPN, lot of students love this one)

The HP48 series --> So so, ...too much complicate to operate, but people loves their bell & whistle "Xmas tree" keyboard.


- Technical people love nixie tubes display, (in particular the model Sperry Remington 661-D and the Casio Mini CM-601) & the 14 single digit modules display on TI-50...

Just my 2c worth,
Pyerre

Corrections :
I've to rectify that I just own few and don't have all of those models, most of them came from other fellows's collections at the same presentation.
Just few observations about all of them in general.
Pyerre

Christoph
You are you working on PC emulators of these 12 machines aren't you? Wonderful.

Hehe, that could work. :-) But I still don't give up with real hardware calculators.

Yesterday a sound-box of my workstation felt from the table. Someone asked me, if it had been a HP-calculator... :-)

Holger