The nerd in me
It was the nerd in me
It was the nerd in me
Well it’s the nerd in me makes me do these things
(with apologies to John Wesley Harding)
I grew up seeing you in the hands of rich elite men of finance, men so powerful they could choose any model to calculate bond payments or whatever it is exactly people use financial calculators for these days. And yet they all chose you. Your gilded metallic head and your firm tightly constructed box conveyed elegance. You were refined yet sleek enough to look good in your leather case. I wanted to be a man so I could press your buttons and create binary reactions in your core logic.
Pictured above, for anyone that is still reading by this point, is my Hewlett Packard HP 12C – it’s a ‘financial’ calculator that I have had for years. I fact, I would go as far as to say that it is the only calculator I use.
Yes, it can do things all sorts of things, the overwhelming majority of which I cant even begin to comprehend, but notwithstanding this, the reason that I have had one for so long is because no one ever pinches it because of the way you enter data.
On your common or garden calculator, to add 2 & 2 you press 2 followed by a plus sign, followed by 2 & then the equals sign. If you are my broker this will give you the answer of 5 & you need to be buy now as apparently stocks are about to rise sharply.
To do a similar sum on an HP12C, the sequence is 2, enter, followed by 2 & then +. & that is why no one ever pinches them which is more than I can say for every other calculator that I have ever owned.
Comments
And they are still making them 25 years after introduction. I wonder what other electronic product you can say that of?
Thanks for the reminder - I think I will dust mine off tonight - I inherited it from my father 19 years ago.
Posted by: Alan | February 27, 2008 8:38 AM
That brings back the memories. Those were the days my friend. The Plaza agreement, Big Bang, Black Monday et al. Taking clients out till early dawn.
Posted by: bill | February 27, 2008 9:21 AM
I always meant to buy a Jupiter Ace, but I never got around to it...
Posted by: Simon Jester | February 27, 2008 1:44 PM
Being an engineer, mine is the HP 11C version.
RPN, the only way to quickly do complex equations...when in engineering school, the calculator race was invariably won with HP's. The calculator toss was usually won with one, as well.
Best tactile-sensation keyboard ever built into a calculator. I've had mine for about 2-1/2 decades.
Posted by: Blackwing1 | February 27, 2008 5:27 PM
An HP 12C! I've practically fainted.... it took me almost a year after being hoofed from my job as a broker to get used to 'normal' calculators again.
Calculator equivalent of the SMLE.
Posted by: The Civil Shot | February 28, 2008 10:08 AM
Well I have the 16C, which is the one for supernerds - the Computer Scientist model, which frankly does more than I've been able to comprehend ...
Posted by: Oubaas | February 28, 2008 1:01 PM
Too bad HP has stopped making all but the 12C. I still have a 10C and 16C of the several I have owned over the years. I completely wore out a 15C. They are the Garands of calculators.
Posted by: Fred | February 28, 2008 2:09 PM
I love mine. I'm actually on my second one. Though I must admit, I use it for work as well (pension plans).
Posted by: Rainy13 | March 4, 2008 11:17 PM