Comments on: HP-12C, I Wanted to Love You

By: fuckmyshijt

fuckmyshijt — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:30:10 +0000

RPN is without a doubt the most useless fuck-all invention known to man. Designed solely to confuse those with smaller white/grey matter ratio’s the end result is merely a segregation of dorks from those with social capabilities – ultimately, nothing more than darwinian separation via a calculator.

FUCK (MY_SHIT)^2

By: JT

JT — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:14:06 +0000

Amazing post, captures cleary and succinctly what I thought to myself at my 1st conference call after analyst training when the old guard busted the 12c out and I was the 1st one with the answer (done in my head, not even requiring the far-superior BAII+) before anyone could even come close with their antiquated 12c’s. Like Henry Blodget, they are symbols of a bygone era.

By: JPMartin

JPMartin — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:08:12 +0000

Great post! Maybe you should rename this as "An Ode to HP12C" I wrote a related post on the ease of use, and efficiency of an HP12C, you can check it out at www.jpmartin.com

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:07:17 +0000

I love RPN. It took me a short while to get used to it, but now I hate algebraic calculators. They’re so primitive and unintuitive.

By: poseidon

poseidon — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 16:45:45 +0000

Funny, as a child growing up, I never said “Gee, I can’t wait to someday have 3 calculators on my desk.” There is the ubiquitous 10b-2, my starter calc in finance, like my first lover, knowing every crook and crevice. Then the big leagues came, I stepped up to the BA2 Plus. It’s like your post college girlfriend who is smarter and better looking than you. You work it, but never feels quite right and there is always some new challenge ot get through. Then alas, the 12-c, there to look cool, much like an exciting, sexy mistress, but having no idea how to approach her, she sits, gathering dust.

By: Bwhahaha

Bwhahaha — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 03:55:16 +0000

Dude… the 12C is like a jedi lightsaber. Sure there are calculators that are faster/sleeker. But they don’t help you channel the force. Seriously, it’s all about form factor and terseness. Besides, battery life lasts ohh.. 10 years or so.

By: Bond investor

Bond investor — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:44:51 +0000

I’m probably biased, as my father worked for HPQ (he still thinks of it as HWP) for 25 years, but the 12C is a marvelous piece of hardware.

It’s small enough to fit in a shirt or pants pocket, and the simple “manual” on the back on the unit was always good enough for me to do just about everything I needed.

I think AIMR needs a standard calculator, and can’t afford to put PCs in front of every exam-taker, so this one persists. I can still see the faint vestiges of the “AIMR” yellow sticker from years ago when I brought the 12C into the exam.

As far as RPN versus algebraic number entry, you just get used to it. RPN does require fewer keystrokes for multiple terms. Think of it like the Forth computing language. Of course, I’m the type of person that still wants a Dvorak keyboard.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:41:10 +0000

Yeah, my boss has one of them. Never did get it, in truth.