Re: Look who bought the latest Xpander at Ebay? (Humor)
Message #3 Posted by glynn on 2 Feb 2002, 3:58 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by Steve Borowsky
Hey Ms. Fiorina!
Now that you have the hang of that eBay thing, may I suggest calculator collecting as a hobby?
If you try some of these old RPN ones, you may find they have an appeal, even if they do not access the internet. They DO have a use or two, and once you learn how to use them(not hard), it can even be fun.
I would start with the 15c. It is compact and looks good with most outfits, and for a "numbers-only" machine, is a lot of bang for the buck. Most of them were well-made, too, and that means you can rely on it when calculating various stock-swaps and counter-offers. You don't want the cheapy rubber-buttoned stuff that stutters or drops a coupla zeros, not in critical times like these... Go for quality.
Now I realize the lack of a browser interface may be disconcerting at first. In that case, you may want to try an "alphanumeric" calc, like the 42s. You can scroll through the menus, and soon you won't even miss a mouse.
Don't be afraid of that "enter" key. Like Garage Rule #7 says, Radical ideas are not always Bad ideas. RPN *is* a radical thing, but becomes quite natural with use-- a paradigm shift that grows on you. And it doesn't hurt that your own company is famous for once having spread the word about that "different way of working".
And hey: Imagine the amusing puzzlement of a few in your staff when they want to run some numbers and you whip out one of these puppies. They'll probably never ask to borrow your calc again. Believe me, it's a kick!
Collecting and using calculators may sound old-fashioned and geeky, but it really IS rewarding and useful; I wish you as many happy hours in it as your company has provided me.
That XPander model you just bought is, from what I hear, quite nice and would truly start your collection out with a rare prize. Well, at least you might try it out for a day or two, before you turn it over to Legal, okay? ;-)
Ya never know, you might even *like* it....
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