06-17-2020, 08:50 AM
(I have an ulterior motive: I'd like to figure out what calculator innovations came out from HP since 2002.) But of more general interest, I would think, would be a timeline from the beginning. I'm not thinking only of features where HP was first, but also HP's first offering of a given feature.
Off the top of my head, I would guess at these features in very approximately this order, for handheld calculators and pocket computers, but I welcome all corrections, additions, and details of model and introduction year:
- first handheld calculator, first consumer product (1972, HP-35)
- first programmable handheld
- first continuous memory (1976, HP-25C)
- first magnetic card storage
- first financial/business offering (1973, HP-80)
- first wristwatch (1977, HP-01)
- first LCD display
- first alphanumeric capable (1979, HP 41)
- first with pluggable ROMs
- first with ability to interface with lab instruments (1979, HP 41)
- first RPL
- first landscape format
- first to offer complex arithmetic
- first to offer matrix operations
- first re-offering of a model with higher performance
- first model labelled to celebrate an anniversary
- first Basic
- first Forth
- first flip-open clamshell model
- first Limited Edition celebration model (2011, HP-15c Limited Edition)
- first CAS (1987, HP-28C)
- first graphing calculator (1987, HP-28C)
- first colour display
- first USB connectivity
- first reprogrammable with user firmware
Having written all that, I see there's an official timeline up to 1990. Which notes these ideas I'd missed:
- first solver (1979, HP-34C)
Edit: see for reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_calculators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison...alculators
Off the top of my head, I would guess at these features in very approximately this order, for handheld calculators and pocket computers, but I welcome all corrections, additions, and details of model and introduction year:
- first handheld calculator, first consumer product (1972, HP-35)
- first programmable handheld
- first continuous memory (1976, HP-25C)
- first magnetic card storage
- first financial/business offering (1973, HP-80)
- first wristwatch (1977, HP-01)
- first LCD display
- first alphanumeric capable (1979, HP 41)
- first with pluggable ROMs
- first with ability to interface with lab instruments (1979, HP 41)
- first RPL
- first landscape format
- first to offer complex arithmetic
- first to offer matrix operations
- first re-offering of a model with higher performance
- first model labelled to celebrate an anniversary
- first Basic
- first Forth
- first flip-open clamshell model
- first Limited Edition celebration model (2011, HP-15c Limited Edition)
- first CAS (1987, HP-28C)
- first graphing calculator (1987, HP-28C)
- first colour display
- first USB connectivity
- first reprogrammable with user firmware
Having written all that, I see there's an official timeline up to 1990. Which notes these ideas I'd missed:
- first solver (1979, HP-34C)
Edit: see for reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_calculators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison...alculators