Why no HP calculator jokes?

[drenehtsral]

I saw this comic: http://xkcd.com/347/ and though, "Hey, what's with all of this TI calculator bias..." I went through school having to translate all of the calculator programs from the crazy-moon-language of TI to something sane (like RPN for the HP48gx). And now in comics too?

Well, to start a proper holy war (and thumb my nose at you TI folks...), while you all were playing Breakout, I had built a transfer cable to load stuff I had downloaded from various usenet groups and install it on my calculator, and thus was able to play Civilization instead of being stuck with breakout. Muhahahahaha! (yes, somebody with _WAY_ too much time on their hands ported Civilization to the 48GX).

The civilization game can be downloaded here: http://www.holgerweihe.net/hp48/hp48.htm It is in French, but if you know Civ (or French) well enough it hardly matters.

-lars

[nvrzoso]

Most school courses which have to do with graphing revolve around the TI, thus its popularity. Once you learn how to use the TI, in and out, why would you switch to a new format?

[qbg]

HP makes calculators?

</sarcasm>

[roc314]

Are HP calculators still using Reverse Polish Notation?

As long as they do that, I don't think they'll ever catch on to the extent of TIs. Most people don't have the time or inclination to learn a new format for their calculator.

[Berengal]

I personally always found postfix (and prefix) superior to infix, for the minute I first learned of them. I parse infix better than postfix, but I do prefix better than I do infix now (thanks to programming, where everything is prefix... mostly)

[Osha]

Are HP calculators still using Reverse Polish Notation?

As long as they do that, I don't think they'll ever catch on to the extent of TIs. Most people don't have the time or inclination to learn a new format for their calculator.

My HP50-g has the option of RPN, but by default isn't set to it. That said lots of the more esoteric functions just seem designed with RPN mode in mind.
Also, the HP50-G is way cooler than an equivalently priced TI calculator. I mean come on! It has an SD-card slot (No more worrying about kilobytes, I have a gig on my calculator), and a beeper, and the only reason it has a stupid infrared port instead of an awesome one is people were worried about cheating. And you can set it to RPN and watch people squirm when they borrow it
That said, the documentation is totally inadequate.

@drenehtsral, Civilisation is indeed impressive, but let's not be so fast as to discount the TI-86's Dragon Warrior!

[hotaru]

Well, to start a proper holy war (and thumb my nose at you TI folks...), while you all were playing Breakout, I had built a transfer cable to load stuff I had downloaded from various usenet groups and install it on my calculator, and thus was able to play Civilization instead of being stuck with breakout.

and while you were playing games, i was running CP/M on my TI-83+.

[yohanleafheart]

I personally always found postfix (and prefix) superior to infix, for the minute I first learned of them. I parse infix better than postfix, but I do prefix better than I do infix now (thanks to programming, where everything is prefix... mostly)

Indeed, same for me. I learned postfix basically for the HP 48 I was using at college. In fact, I don't know about US and other countries, but here in Brazil it is rare to see anything except an HP.

[headprogrammingczar]

Well, to start a proper holy war (and thumb my nose at you TI folks...), while you all were playing Breakout, I had built a transfer cable to load stuff I had downloaded from various usenet groups and install it on my calculator, and thus was able to play Civilization instead of being stuck with breakout.

and while you were playing games, i was running CP/M hardcoding 3D graphics on my TI-83+.

True story.

[pyroman]

I've got you beat. I was living the glory days with my good ol' palm m130. Could do all sorts of cool stuff with that thing. Plus more importantly it had risk. Too bad it doesn't seem to want to charge anymore. maybe one of these days I'll take it apart again.

[MrFrothy]

I have an m130 too!
hi-five!

[pyroman]

I have an m130 too!
hi-five!

woot! *internet hi five*

[Emu*]

Had a V, cracked the screen. Then bought a Vx off ebay plus hardcase and folding laptop-style keyboard for about £25. That got stolen. Then I bought an E2, which I used til I got a Samsung i600 WinMo phone with qwerty and wifi. Now I have a Blackberry Curve 8320 and I have to say



Calculators SUCK!

[quintopia]

and i don't understand why the fact that someone (um, many people) wrote Breakout clones for TI calcs means "Breakout reference = TI bias"

[CPesyna]

The HP50g is absolutely godlike and I take comfort in the complete superiority it represents. It is the pinnacle of engineering, art, Western thought and human kind. The engineers at HP plucked it and its included faux-leather carrying case from the realm of the gods, and in so doing gave physical form to the Platonic ideal of the calculator. Its 9.5 megabyte, 887 page user's guide was penned by monks and inspired by a choir of heavenly muses. All hail the glorious HP50g.