Re: hp-15c: From my museum to yours.. Message #7 Posted by uhmgawa on 17 Oct 2010, 1:46 p.m., in response to message #2 by Namir
Quote:
That's why I like emulators .... sure no physical contact with the actual buttons ... but think of all the advantages:
Playing the devil's advocate here..
Quote: 1. No worry about battery.
There are few computation devices which have a battery
life surpassing an original voyager.
Quote: 2. All keys work ok ALL the time!
The original 9mm voyager tact dome switches have an
estimated 5M cycle life. For an emulator a touch screen
may or may not exceed this for service life cycle expectation
of a single physical location but it is also shared usage.
More importantly the dedicated physical tact switch
matrix is a fundamental UI attraction of a voyager.
Quote: 3. No LCD problems.
You wont find a better proposition on the LCD contrast
vs. power consumption scale that a reflective monochrome display
(particularly the earlier voyagers which have a lower
voltage multiplex ratio). It is also about as simple as
possible in terms of physical construction.
Quote: 5. Emulator always looks pristine!
Pristine simulation?
Quote: 4. Some emulators allow you to save and load programs. Yeah for that!!! Try that with a real15C.
You got me there.
Quote: 5. Travels with you without adding weight or suffering transportation damage.
6. Usage does not decrease value!
The emulation host can suffer physical damage and once
the host is toast, the value of the emulator goes to
zero unless you're planning on purchase of another host.
Don't get me wrong, I think code emulators are fine
tools. But they aren't the equivalent user experience
of a physical voyager which is exactly what fosters the
price insanity witnessed above.
Ironically I doubt we'll ever see HP introduce encore
voyagers in a maneuver analogous to the 35s. Also limited availability of the original voyagers is what props up their
prices to lunacy. Unsure how much of a commercial success the 35s
turned out to be but as a user I wasn't really impressed
with that execution.
|