-PJ
Posted on 10/24/2019 7:07:53 PM PDT by DoodleBob
The 12c calculator from Hewlett-Packard is one of those products that is so ubiquitous and familiar that you almost forget it exists, yet at the same time is so different that there's almost nothing like it. Whenever someone pulls it out of a drawer or pocket to do a calculation, no matter how trivial, you know you are dealing with a professional. Remarkably, it has been in continuous production for over 35 years, with very few changes. While there are now fancier and in some ways more sophisticated calculators, such as with screens for doing graphs, the 12c remains a cult status symbol for professionals.
And people really bond with their 12c's. I'm reminded of the chant from the movie Full Metal Jacket, when the recruits are first learning to use their rifles:
“This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless.”
The 12c has much the same aura: They are mass-manufactured, yet individual. Learning to use it well involves a pretty steep curve, and, like a sophisticated piece of software, the learning curve keeps going as you get better, egging you on to dive deeper, deeper. For accountants and other financial professionals who need to go beyond basic adding and subtracting, there's a host of sophisticated functionality. Amortization? Yes. Compound interest? Certainly. Calculating Net Present Value and Bond yields? Of course.
Toda the 12c can be bought for under $50. But when it was launched on September 1, 1981, it retailed for $150 (equivalent to over $400 today). Even at that price it was an instant success.
(Excerpt) Read more at massmadesoul.com ...
ohboy...
I left my first HP12C in a NYC cab. I bought one the next day and I still have it. Bringing it to meetings is a great way to help distinguish myself without being smart.
you get a deeper understanding after using one for some time.
My limited experience of teaching math to jr high kids is that they punch numbers into a calculator and accept whatever answer they see on the screen whether it makes sense or not. Also seeing seeing 7 digits to the right of the decimal point creates an illusion of accuracy that really isn’t there. Well it’s there, but it isn’t as important as they think.
It is amazing that we pretty much got to the moon and back using the computing power of slip sticks.
I tried to check ebay for Swissmicro calculators and none showed up. Is the spelling correct?
The used HP 15C are running over $120.
I bot a perfect condition hp 12c at a garage sale for $5, with manual. I must confess I’ve never learned how to use it. By “use it” I mean have the confidence to, for example, make an offer on a piece of real estate using it.
I still have my 11c that I bought in 1985. Still works great.
I also have that 41c emulator on my phone too.
There is a HP15C iPhone app available. I have the 12C app - not a knock off but the actual (and expensive!) official version. I prefer my actual 12C because of the physicality of the buttons but the app has proven to be a conversation starter. And yes, I am a geek.
Have to have the keyboard. Miss my Blackberry from work.
I still have my trusty HP 16C. Hexadecimal rules!
Yes, I got the HP 45 when it first came out, and after I learned RPN and the 4 register stack, I wanted nothing else! I still have it and an HP 25C, but nothing has compared to the 45 for me since. As an engineer and surveyor, I took it to the field with me and was amazed at the geometric calculations that I could perform with it!
-PJ
Who could forget Reverse Polish Notation?
Years ago I read an article on the HP12C. The author mentioned that he once interviewed a CFO. He saw the CFO had an HP12C and he asked why he still used it. The CFO picked up the 12C, whipped it against the wall, picked it up and turned it on for the author and said "that's why."
I holed up in motel room for a long 3 day weekend to learn to use it and became very proficient at using its various functions.
Then I moved to the Phoenix area just as the mortgage market started to come back from Carter's high interest rates of the early 80s, and went to work for a savings and loan as a loan officer. I could run circles around my co-workers as a loan officer by using the calculator.
For its time, it was actually a small, handheld financial computer rather than just a calculator.
I eventually became a VP for a savings and loan and was in demand to teach classes on how to use the HP12C calculator. I must've taught a hundred classes over the years, teaching new members of the mortgage industry how to use it to make their job easier.
As I type this comment, my original HP12C is sitting on my desk and I use it regularly. It is one of a kind machine, Texas Instruments came out with their version but it always required several more steps to calculate each function.
The HP12C is ubiquitous today but it was a rare bird when it first appeared on the financial scene almost 3 decades ago. It is like an old friend to me.
I actually did play lunar lander on an arcade machine. There was a little lander, lunar terrain and a flight path to control with levers and a button for thrust. I never could get it to land but ended up crashing. The graphics were on a par with Asteroids and Missle Commander.
Me too. I’ve been using HP calculators since the HP-25.
Slide rules were great as long as three or four significant figures were sufficient. Slide rules failed in analytical chemistry where calculations were often five or six significant figures.
Such a great calculator. I used it regularly until Excel came along.
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