What would your ideal HP calc look like now?

[colinh]

First of all, hello everyone :-) Secondly, I should admit I'm not an HP calculator expert. I have an HP 48GX and a 32S, and I'll probably get a 41CX one day. I also have a TI-59 and various emulators on my iPhone. (Then I have a record player and Nikon and Leica film cameras... you get the idea(*) ).

(*) perhaps not, though. I'm not exactly a technophobe.

Occasionally I muse on the 'progress' of the world and the effects computers, the internet (specifically the web) and digitization in general have had and on these occasions I get a bit nostalgic. Reading about the 41C or 67, and reviews about the latest calculators, it seems that many others miss the passing of the classics too.

And so the above question popped up. What exactly is it about programmable scientific calculators that people (ie. engineers and scientists) liked, that is missing from the current offerings? What is it that makes them preferable to a computer (or smart phone) in certain situations?

Thinking about this from a design perspective and arriving (perhaps) at the conclusion that such a calculator simply isn't possible these days might eliminate, or at least alleviate, the pain (as it were) of their passing. On the other hand, one might end up with the blueprint of a dream machine.



It seems to me that in some ways limitations (in moderation) can be a good thing. Having only 50-odd keys can be better than having 150. Having one or two rows of alphanumerics might, on occasion, be better than having a pixel display (be it 131x64 or 1920x1080).

On the other hand, arbitrary limitations (such as not being able to use complex numbers with particular functions) can be annoying.

The current calculators seem to be mostly directed at students, with some sort of "learning" bias, and are crippled in ways to prevent them being seen as computers, so that they can be used in exams.



What would a scientist/engineer want in a calculator? In which situations would they use it rather than a computer? Perhaps a starting point might be "my favourite calculator is/was the XXX. If only it had YYY ... !"