For example, instead of 2 + 2 = 4 (algebraic entry), RPN entry would be: 2 ENTER KEY 2 + (the mathematical operation comes last). The decision was made, for the ultimate mathematical and computational efficiency, to use RPN ( Reverse Polish Notation) for data entry (with no need for Equal key on the calculator), instead of the traditional algebraic entry (which uses an Equal key on a traditional calculator). HP worked with a team of researchers who had Ph.Ds in numerical analysis, mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science to develop the 12C.
The goal of developing the HP-12C was to have a sophisticated programmable financial calculator, that would be small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, would have long battery life and would meet the HP “drop test” – the ability to withstand a fall from a desktop onto a concrete floor. Almost ten years ago in the very early days of CD, I wrote a post about the 25th anniversary of the HP-12C in 2006, here’s an excerpt of that post: Here are some related links about the HP-12C Financial Calculator:ġ.
#HEWLETT PACKARD 12C FINANCIAL CALCULATOR IPA PORTABLE#
If you aren’t convinced that the HP-12C financial calculator is maybe the only consumer electronic product from 1981 that is still relevant and up-to-date after 35 years, browse a 1981 Radio Shack catalog here (check out the telephones, stereo equipment, reel-to-reel tape decks, cassette players, portable stereo systems, 8-track tape players, telephone answering machines, TV antennas, radios, calculators, “microcomputers,” typewriters, etc.) and see if you can find any other consumer electronic available in 1981 that is still considered relevant and up-to-date today! If you can find an example, I bet there won’t be very many!
Now that it’s 2016, and since I couldn’t find anybody else who has done so already, let me be among the first to say “ Happy 35th Anniversary, HP 12C Financial Calculator.” I have used HP-12C financial calculators on almost a daily basis since the 1980s and currently own five of them: two original 12C models, one 25th Anniversary models (released in 2006), and two “Platinum” 12C model (which sells for $79.98 and has more processing power and storage space than the regular 12C, and also features both RPN and Algebraic entry modes – more on that difference below). What makes this calculator totally unique among all consumer electronic products is that it was first introduced by HP 35 years ago at a retail price of $150 (almost $400 in today’s dollars) in 1981, and yet even today is considered to be a relevant, up-to-date, “state of the art” product for financial professionals, CPAs, financial analysts, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, investors and finance professors. Pictured above is the HP 12C Financial Programmable Calculator, available from the Hewlett-Packard website for $69.99.
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