Re: Voyager Platform for the 21st Century Message #9 Posted by sylvandb on 27 Feb 2011, 2:10 a.m., in response to message #7 by Mike Morrow
Quote: Among most of those familiar with both the HP 42S and the HP-15C, it is likely that the 42S is the most desired for resurrection,
why? Neither one had I/O to store and load programs or data. That's why I didn't buy a 42s then and probably wouldn't buy a new issue. (I bought my 15c in 1982.) Today the capabilities of both the 42s could easily be implemented along with those of the 15c in a single new calculator in either portrait or landscape, and personally I'd strongly prefer more keys, and slightly prefer landscape.
Quote: The Voyager model is really a very poor design for the "21st Century".
Because of the layout? Or because the ancient display or custom processor is so limited?
The 7segment display was the only problem I ever had with my 15c. I'd accept a speedup like the new 12c even at the cost of battery life, but faster isn't important to me. I would insist on a more capable display, and that is the _only_ reason I'd rather have a 42s.
If for the layout, I very much disagree. Further, the limited keys on the 42s is a problem. The only reason I'd give up keys is to get more area for a display. The horizontal form factor works great with the centered ENTER, and it enables a wider display for longer-length lines than would be practical in a portrait layout. Longer lines aren't needed for numbers, but they are really handy for text!
And the final criteria is price. A new 15c functionally equivalent to the old one should sell for a 20b-like price, or less. At that price I'd buy at least 3, probably 6+, and have them everywhere. (I'm not going to carry a calculator.)
Slightly more expensive to get a better display might enable much sophisticated software. But much more expensive, even with more features, I wouldn't buy as many... Would more features and/or a different layout appeal to enough more people to make more sales overall? Don't know. And it appears at least thus far, HP doesn't believe it would be sufficient.
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