Plus42 Pricing and documentation

[Peter Klein]

(11-28-2023 05:10 PM)bxparks Wrote:  I suppose the question that I should have asked more directly is: *Why* should I learn RPL? It seems like a technological dead end to me, if no current calculator uses it. Judging from the size of the SysRPL reference manual, RPL may have collapsed under the weight of its own complexity.

(11-28-2023 08:05 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Programmable calculators had their heyday roughly from the late '70s to the early '90s. They became popular because they were an affordable way to automate complex calculations, for people who didn't have access to computers, when computers cost a fortune and took up a large room.

Once PCs became inexpensive, most of the market for programmable calculators disappeared. What was left were markets where portability was important, like education and engineers working in the field. And those markets gradually got eaten up by handheld computers, i.e. PDAs and smartphones.

I don't think there's anything wrong with RPL per se, it's just that it represents a solution to a problem that no longer exists. Almost anything you can do in RPL, you could also do in C or Java or C# or Mathematica.

This is interesting. I have several RPN calculators. I also have a 48S and a 48G. The 48G was given to me, the 48S was a consolation prize I got when I was hunting down a 32Sii that was sold before I reached the seller's house. For years I've thought I should learn to use them. But every time I fool with them or read the manuals, my brain sends a "bail out, bail out!" signal. I feel that I've hit the point where you might as well use a computer.

That said, one of the reasons why I fool with calculators is to teach myself some math, including a bit of calculus. Embarrassing revelation: I never took calculus (I was a music and theater major).

What can the RPL machines do that my RPN machines can't? Well, for one thing, plot functions. (Yes, I know the 42s can, but it's very rudimentary.) But Plus42 looks like it can do very nice plots, and I'm already well down the learning curve on the 42s and Free42.

Suppose you were in my place. What would you do? Use one of my 48 machines? Use Plus42? Buy an HP Prime or a TI whatever-the-kids-are-using? Get a dedicated PC program?