Happy anniversary to HP-42S and HP-14B

[Johnny Bjoern Rasmussen]

22 years. Congratulations!

Edited: 31 Oct 2010, 12:53 p.m. after one or more responses were posted

[Eddie W. Shore]

A toast to the 42S and 14B!

[Namir]

Hmmm .. as old as my son Joseph!!!

[Mike Morrow]

Not much information here. The HP42S is said to be from 1988, yet the back of the calculator says 1987. So which anniversary is it...the 22nd or 23rd?

Regardless, knowledgeable people acknowledge the HP42S as the finest RPN calculator ever made...22 years after introduction. What a shame that HP no longer has capability to produce a machine that comes close to what was available almost a quarter century ago. The HP32SII, HP33S, and HP35S are execrable.

RPL is powerful, but RPN is straight-forward, non-tricky, intuitive, and a system that people can use without great study. It's a pity that freshman computer science types held sway with RPL, causing HP's loss of use for the things for which people still use calculators.

The HP50G is orders of magnitude a better machine than the TI-89 Titanium (HW 4). It's a really great product. But it has lost to the TI junk because of RPL's idiotic difficulty of use. At the very least, the successor to the HP50G should provide for programming in either RPL or RPN.

But, I digress. The HP42S represents much better times. Happy anniversary, HP42S and the long gone talent of the HP folks who created you!

Edited: 31 Oct 2010, 6:20 p.m. after one or more responses were posted

[Martin Pinckney]

The back of all Pioneers say "Copyright Hewlett Packard Company 1987", regardless of when the model was introduced or the particular calculator was made.

OK, they don't spell out copyright, they have the little copyright symbol.

This must be the year HP developed some common code for the series, or something like that.

[Mike Morrow]

That's true.

The copyright (C/R) dates shown during the self-tests vary. For example:

HP42S____ROM A___2934Sxxxxx__C/R date is 1988.

HP42S____ROM C___3328Sxxxxx__C/R date is 1988.

HP17BII___ROM B___ID710xxxxx__C/R date is 1987.

HP32SII_____________ID718xxxxx__C/R date is 1987, 1990.

Edited: 31 Oct 2010, 6:46 p.m.

[Walter B]

The (c) was for the overall design of the Pioneers.

[BruceH]

Quote:

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What a shame that HP no longer has capability to produce a machine that comes close to what was available almost a quarter century ago. The HP32SII, HP33S, and HP35S are execrable.

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You know as well as I do that it has absolutely nothing to do with HP's capabilities and everything to do with what the market will pay for. So less of the snide digs at HP's staff, please.

Quote:

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RPL is powerful, but RPN is straight-forward, non-tricky, intuitive, and a system that people can use without great study. It's a pity that freshman computer science types held sway with RPL, causing HP's loss of use for the things for which people still use calculators.

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RPL was developed by Bill Wickes' - a person less like a 'freshman computer science type' I can't imagine. Also Bill was intimately acquainted with RPN on the HP41: I'm sure he didn't cast aside RPN lightly.

Quote:

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The HP50G is orders of magnitude a better machine than the TI-89 Titanium (HW 4). It's a really great product. But it has lost to the TI junk because of RPL's idiotic difficulty of use. At the very least, the successor to the HP50G should provide for programming in either RPL or RPN.

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I'll agree with that last point. <flame suit:on>RPN is okay-ish for short programs of up to 10 or15 lines but anything much more than that and it becomes impossible to debug. ;-)

[Walter B]

Quote:

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Quote:

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At the very least, the successor to the HP50G should provide for programming in either RPL or RPN.

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I'll agree with that last point. <flame suit:on>RPN is okay-ish for short programs of up to 10 or15 lines but anything much more than that and it becomes impossible to debug. ;-)

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Since you still wear it, you may take it off now ;) I agree with that point, too. Let the users decide. We took the same approach offering a choice of 4 and 8 stack levels in the 34S.

Ceterum censeo: HP, launch a 43S!

Walter

[Mike Morrow]

I actually don't have a problem with RPL. I bought an HP 28C 23 years ago, and found it to be very powerful, but NOT easy to use.

I find it much harder to use RPL for those short programs to which you refer. But I've written RPN programs several hundred lines in length and IMHO it is much easier to follow an RPN program than a RPL program.

BTW, I also really respect Bill Wickes.

[Martin Pinckney]

Question: Why own a 14b when you have a 17b?

Answer: Because some day, my eyes will be weaker, and the bigger screen fonts will be a blessing.

Same reason to own a 22s when you also have a 27s.