What year is it?

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher) 07/08/2020 at 22:37 • Filed to: Will this thing hook up to my flux capacitor?

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This popped up on a local FB garage sale page. Me thinks it won’t be selling anytime soon.

Edit: Apparently these are very much still a thing, and I am quite wrong here. It really does look like a relic from my childhood. This calculator wa s actually born the same year I was.

fintail > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 22:45

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dunno about the price, but I think these are still in production for those specific function keys.

FrankAtlanta > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 22:46

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Those our great little machines. Still use mine and have it as an app on my phone. Once you get used to RPN, it’s hard to use a regular calculator. 

ranwhenparked > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 22:50

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For someone who wants one, that is a good deal. They are $70 new,  direct from HP.

shop-teacher > ranwhenparked 07/08/2020 at 23:03

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Seriously? Ok then! I is wrong!

shop-teacher > fintail 07/08/2020 at 23:03

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I had no idea. I am apparently very wrong on this one.

shop-teacher > FrankAtlanta 07/08/2020 at 23:04

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I had no idea. It looks like a relic from my childhood. Apparently I am quite wrong.

fintail > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:11

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To be fair, it looks 25 years old, and calculators are such a specialized thing, makes sense.  That wacky font makes me think it might be old stock too.

shop-teacher > fintail 07/08/2020 at 23:16

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The packaging screams 90's.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:28

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My students hate that my spare calculator is an “ancient” HP that is RPN.  Most of them would prefer doing math by hand over using it.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:30

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Some old accountants or something use them I bet and they have functions we have no idea about, me for one! 

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:34

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FrankAtlanta > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:48

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I used one in school in the mid 80’s. It was expensive at the time, but is still in production and perfect for financial calcs. If it can’t do what I need, I’m breaking out Excel.

I eventually lost mine and a good friend gifted  me a replacement a few yrs ago. Might be a faulty memory, but my first one seemed heftier than the new one....probably just a simple, single chip inside.

Whoops on the typo in my earlier post.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 07/08/2020 at 23:49

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I don't even know what RPN stands for :)

shop-teacher > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 07/08/2020 at 23:50

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Tehehe. Never get a old :)

fintail > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:53

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Suddenly it’s 1996, let’s do the Macarena and buy a new jellybean F150.

FrankAtlanta > shop-teacher 07/08/2020 at 23:57

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Reverse Polish Notation.

Regular calc: 2+2=4

RPN: 2 2 +

These calculators don’t have = nor parentheses () keys. They use stacks as temp memory and if you set up your keystrokes properly, you can do math quickly.

shop-teacher > fintail 07/09/2020 at 00:04

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Ha!

Its still weird to me that I have a Jellybean F-150 now. Of all the Ford s that could have been my first Ford. I never would have thought it’d be a Jellybean.

shop-teacher > FrankAtlanta 07/09/2020 at 00:05

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Weird. If it works, it works, I guess.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 00:15

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Its actually faster when you are running strings of calculations but outside of accounting or similar fields its not used.

not for canada - australian in disguise > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 00:33

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The calculator industry really hasn’t advanced much beyond the late 1970s apart from slightly nicer graphing calculators and the like. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Although it is quite amusing seeing a modern HP logo on the packaging for a product that came out in 1981.

fintail > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 00:35

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For as lamented by some as they seem to be now, I remember they were a big deal when new, as the prior version seemed like an antique. Of course, now it is the sought after one.   Probably a bargain for a hauler anyway.

shop-teacher > fintail 07/09/2020 at 00:50

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I still think it's hideous, but it's proven to be a tough sumbitch. Considering I traded a 4' long piece of steel I-beam for a running and driving truck, I'd say it was a bargain.

benjrblant > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 01:13

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I’m so glad HP ditched that typeface and marketing style. It's like some sort of budget halloween font.

Nick Has an Exocet > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 01:59

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The previous CEO that I worked for was a calculator collector who paid upwards upwards of $100k for a single calculator. He sold a few and paid for his grad school. You overestimate people. 

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 02:33

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I actually have one of these, complete with a big manual, that I need to part with. I figure that if I get $25 for it I’ll be happy. It was one of those Goodwill Outlet purchases; I probably paid 50 cents for it and another 20 cents for the manual.

I actually have a ton of calculators, mostly TI scientifics of various types, that I need to sell off.  Lots of graphing units and even some that can connect to a computer via USB. I’d pick them up at the outlet and send them to my dad. After retiring he spent years tutoring math students at a community college, and he would give these away to underprivileged students, a nice win-win. He’s no longer tutoring so now I've got a pile of these things.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > FrankAtlanta 07/09/2020 at 02:47

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This old hat from the ‘80s that advocates RPN would not fly in these PC and politically charged times as that sign has a different meaning now...

PartyPooper2012 > FrankAtlanta 07/09/2020 at 05:13

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I don’t know how that is faster tho... Same number of keys pressed

1: 2
2: Enter
3: 2
4:+

vs

1:2
2:+
3:2
4:=

PITA if you ask me. I am with the kids. I rather eat cardboard than use RPN

Just Jeepin' > shop-teacher 07/09/2020 at 06:06

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My much-cherished collection was stolen last year.

shop-teacher > benjrblant 07/09/2020 at 06:06

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Lol! Yes! That describes it perfectly.

shop-teacher > Nick Has an Exocet 07/09/2020 at 06:09

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Dayum!

shop-teacher > Just Jeepin' 07/09/2020 at 06:09

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Sorry to hear that :(

foghat1981 > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/09/2020 at 11:02

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Agree.  And it amazes me they still charge these prices.  Graphing calculators (TI-83 or whatever) was like $90 when I was in high school.  20+ years later, they’re still about that much but have had almost zero development.  Total cash cow.  My college finance calculator is the same way.