3 4 +

Me, pretending to be an engineer in high school or to look like I knew what I was doing

In the 70s Hewlett-Packard became the gold standard of pocket calculators, but that is literally an understatement. Their electronic pocket calculators would really be the Rolls-Royce for many years to come. All their handheld calculators, which is how HP chose to call their products to highlight their ergonomics, would use the Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) as their ways of accepting operators and operand.

In RPN operators follow the operands, so "3 + 4 =" is "3 (enter) 4 +".

In the Beginning

My introduction to HP was when my brother, in the summer of 1973 or 1974, showed me an HP handheld calculator he had acquired for his work in the investment banking industry - it was the HP 80 Business Calculator.

HP 80 Business Calculator c. 1973

At my age at the time the best I could have understood were the four basic arithmetic functions. Anything else was beyond my comprehension. On the other hand I was simply enthralled by this striking object. It felt and looked like something that belonged in 2001 A Space Odyssey. Apple and Steve Jobs had yet to appear, but HP made other things appear prehistoric at best. Many aspects stood out that made a lasting impression aside from the functionality.

• the shape was unusual but the moment you place it in your hand it fit like a glove. Whether and adult's hand or that of a kid, size didn't matter. The gentle slope, the smooth curves, and simply the perfect size to be small but not too small

• the texture felt of substance and value

• the keys were there in perfect alignment and spacing

• the tactile feel of each key was superlative

• although the display just had small red numerics it still felt like outer space

• the HP 80 had a hard case that would hold both the calculator and its accompanying charger. While today one would not give the charger a second thought, it really had its own shape and feel, it wasn't just a black block.

• then there was the owner's manual. This was a real beauty and extremely well written and laid out. It was clear, entertaining, and wonderfully illustrated. Quite honestly I still think these HP owner's manuals leave everyone else in the dust, including much later material. It's the finest example of how a highly complex and technical subject can be made readable, usable, enjoyable, a beauty, and easy to remember.

HP 80 with accompanying hard case and charger

Only the appearance of the Apple iphone years later would hold a similar of awe of fine details. Even subsequent HP handheld calculators were slightly short of the first generation's design and details. The HP80's keys were also colored in black, two shades of gray, and a yellow key, which was part of the visual language for its user interface and ergonomics. The keys themselves had rounded edges.

A Teenager's Gadget

When I was senior in high school I was fortunate enough that my brother gifted me an HP25C to my joy, which was a 2nd generation scientific programmable with continuous memory, basically RAM. I had no idea at the time, but the HP25C introduced me to the rudimentary of programming, skipping punch cards altogether. Imagine my surprise when as a freshman in college I had to deal with punch cards. It felt prehistoric compared to the HP25C.

HP 25C

Moon Landing Simulator

The HP 25C was programmable (and remained in memory due to the introduction of RAM memory) although as a kid in high school there really wasn't any use for such sophistication capable of putting complex formulas together that could recalled. I certainly wasn't performing any scientific research or engineering work that would have required such functionality. However, for illustrative purposes, HP did describe how a set of Newtonian physics formulas would be used to simulate a lunar landing on when and how much fuel would be burned as thrusts. It became known as the Moon Landing Simulator game. HP provided the corresponding code that the HP 25C instructions could implement the simulator. All one had to do was key it in and play along. That was my introduction to "software programming", instructions, stacks, and logic in general. This was the beauty of the HP 25C.

Hewlett Packard as a name became synonymous with the future for me. Aside from the handheld calculators and instrumentation I had no idea what they really did. I would occasionally see ads in the Scientific American magazine of their calculators and it would be extremely polished. Probably I began to imagine working at HP wherever and whatever it was going to be.

RPNized

In the end my reality became IBM for a variety of reasons. No regrets, but HP calculators were always there somewhere somehow. Psychologically it was impossible for me to use simple and highly functional calculators if they lacked RPN, which somehow my brain was now wired for. It wouldn't undo itself. Even to this day, if I use any calculator, physical or as an app, I almost have to mouth the operation out loud as a way to temporarily unlearn RPN.

I even purchased a scientific Texas Instrument calculator, one priced for the masses, but I always felt liked I was doing backward somersaults rather than running in a straight line.

In the 80s I made use of an HP12C which was part of HP's compact calculator series while we also had an HP41CV which was quite power hungry using up batteries rather quickly. Either one was relegated to relatively mundane chores as simple home accounting as I had little need at the office as spreadsheets on the PC was spreading rapidly.

HP 41CV c. 1983

Notice how the HP41CV has the basic original shape but is just edgier? The original HP 80 and HP 65 shape instead is how you take a box shape and with gentle curves turn into a different object with lots of appeal and class.

Into the Future

I now have an HP35s which is reminiscent of the more classic HP handheld calculator, has all the possible typical functions, looks like an HP, and still feels different from others. The overall quality and build details is inline with pricing. The original HP80 was the only one on the market that could command any price. Doubt there were real production cost constraints that would have impacted build quality significantly.

HP 35s

While I do have the HP 35s, I'm really happy to have an old IOS app that continues to work today - it's called HP 15c and even includes the original back side if you swipe the screen. So I continue to us RPM merrily.

iOS app for HP 15C

A Trailblazer for the Few Lucky Elite

HP-01 in stainless stee

For a smile - few people (you have to be old enough) remember that HP introduced the HP-01, a digital watch but much more, in the late 70s and it was on the market only for a few years. It was available in stainless steel as well as gold. There were no obvious pins or screws holding things together to be seen. Reminiscent of something more recent? Maybe someone took their cue from HP in many ways. At the time the HP-01 it was right at home with Star Trek.

The gold HP-01

Truly a technological wonder of miniaturization. If you look at the picture carefully you will see some keys that are raised while others are recessed. Interestingly enough the calculator functions were algebraic and not RPN! While the HP-01 was introduced in an era when LED and LCD watches were on the market, and the market disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared as digital analog face watches became more fashionable, it remains the best of look and feel as well as quality.