HP is finally going to update the 12C Financial Calculator, long the workhorse of business students... I just spent a whole year carrying one, and I remember my uncle using one when he went to business school a decade ago.
It's about damn time, frankly. Calculating a bond yield with the 12C can leave you waiting 15-20 seconds, even when it's so simple a calculation you could do it on paper in that time.
The Businessweek article is a bit, well, silly. "What accounts for such amazing longevity in an industry where product lifetimes are typically measured in months? ...The answer is that it does one job both inexpensively and exceptionally well."
Um, the thing costs about $70, ludicrous considering that you can buy a refurbished Palm Zire and HP12C simulator software for about $90. Yes, it's built like a tank - but it also has 1970's technology on the inside. If I had to guess, the internal electronics probably aren't more complex than a $15 scientific calculator.
The real reason it's lasted so long? I'd say because it's such an unbelievable pain in the ass to use. Once you've spent the time learning it, you have a vested interest in keeping in it around. Reverse Polish Notation, anyone? The owner's manual is a hefty 216 pages -- and you'd better carry it if you want to do more than algebra.
The reality is that the HP12C is like a secret society decoder badge. Bankers and other finance people carry it because it's such an effort to learn, that nobody else would use it. Much like audiophiles who still own a tuner, carrying the 12C shows you're a tough guy who doesn't need newfangled stuff.
Don't get me wrong: this is my second HP calculator and I love them both. They're built like tanks and they always work. But it's way, way overdue that HP updates this relic to catch up to the evolution of electronics.
Unfortunately, the update is little more than cosmetic. They're going to change the entry method (perhaps the end of RPN) and increase battery life. I think they're missing a major chance to improve a 20-year old design -- the simple addition of a multi-line display, or dot-matrix display (instead of fixed digits) would be a huge improvement in the device's utility.
[Via Gizmodo and Rodent Regatta]
