Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Hewlett-Packard HP-35
calculator, which took place 1 February 1972.
The first handheld scientific calculator, it included trigonometric and logarithmic functions.
Bill Hewlett himself had challenged his engineers to build it small enough so that it could
fit in a shirt pocket.
The story goes, it was designated the HP-35 because it had 35 keys.
It was an instant success and its introduction heralded the end
of the slide rule as the engineer or scientist's personal, portable calculating
device of choice.
Slide rules had reached their design high point just before the HP-35's release
with instruments such as this Faber-Castell Novo-Duplex.
See http://sliderulemuseum.com/Faber/S12...tell_2-83N.jpg
I still have one somewhere. 
To read more about the HP-35's history and development, follow the links on this page here -
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/his...lsystems/0023/
When one considers that we were using plastic slide rules 40 years ago,
it gives reason to pause and wonder what people's personal computing requirements
will be like in another 40 years from now. |
Hi Gary
Yes I bought a HP35 in 1972. I got a special price as a student but even then it cost a lot of money.
The first real work I used it for was polar/cartesian conversions. I loved that reverse polish notation.
I loaned it to my son when I was in the UK 1976-78. I haven't seen it since.
I have now had to revert to my Faber-Castell slide rule, another student special from 1968, for quick calcs. I wonder how many youngsters can use a slide rule, or even maths tables from school days.
By the way do you remember any of those un-documented key combinations to display odd bits of useless data. and shelloil 71011345
Barry