Re: MBA's, hear this: I AM STUNNED Message #37 Posted by Ed Look on 5 Oct 2003, 2:32 a.m., in response to message #36 by Eric Lundgren
Yeah, but to create such an overlay, you'll have to use the calculator first to solve some transform equations, I imagine, to map the chevron shaped grid onto an orthogonal one. So, I guess, one might as well get used to it's weird layout. ;)
As one who started off with a TI SR-40, my second calculator, which was the HP-34C, needed some getting used to (algebraic to RPN, addressing storage registers, shift keys, etc.). Then, when the formerly trusty ol' 34C started to get a little dotty, I tried to replace it with the HP-48G. The general keyboard layout was very similar, but still wasn't exactly the same and required some getting used to. This was displaced by a HP-32SII (as at the time, I needed more of the 32SII's features than the 48G's). Yet again, I had to adapt to another calculator keyboard, as all the functions and labels, etc., were again in different places from that of the other two.
Admittedly, these were all HP RPN models, but so is the HP-33C. Hopefully, this will give it an underlying similarity to its predecessors so that sloped positions of the keys will be merely the slightest of annoyances. Again, as I said in another post, just being ugly is not really a problem. Compared to the Spices, I think all other calcs just don't look so cool. Functionality over form. In fact, in this very museum site, I think we can all find a calculator or two that may be "beautiful", but may not be much of a joy to use.
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