Thursday, June 2, 2011

My latest electronic toy, a HP-12C

What is it with me and electronic gizmos this year, first the iPad then the Kindle and then the ...er... calculator but this is no normal calculator. This calculator is a Hewlett Packard HP-12C, an icon of calculator design. A calculator that first went on sale in 1981 and continues in production to the present day, to put that in context i was about half-way through my time at primary school the year HP began making this.

Looks wise its just... fantastic. Classic tech retroism i'd call it and i love it. Its not cheap though but i don't mind because i needed a decent calculator anyway (can't stand using software calculators on the computer, its all wrong keying in numbers with a mouse, like making coffee in a microwave). It looks and feels... quality. It has that old skool solidity about it (i hope it doesn't break tomorrow now i've said that!)

Although the HP-12C looks the same as it always has internally it has changed completely and now has an ARM microprocessor. It uses Reverse Polish Notation which i've never used before but i've done some basic calculations with it and all seems fine. The keys are lovely and clicky by the way. I wonder what i'll get next, i did plan to get an iPhone but i think i'll just wait to see what happens with that as a new version is apparently due soon...