Can we have RPN back?

[Craig Thomas]

(03-28-2014 06:29 PM)Ivan Rancati Wrote:  

(01-26-2014 11:53 PM)Craig Thomas Wrote:  The reason I'm not using my Prime as an engineering calculator is simple.

x to the y key

I'm a bit confused here. Was the label on the key not changed already with the HP-45 in the early 70s?

HP-45

Quote:The HP-45 also added 10^x and replaced x^y with y^x.

On the Prime,if using RPN mode, and if you read what's on the x to the y key, and assume it calculates 'x' to the 'y' in the manner of HP's I've used for 30 years, you would be wrong. The x and y have nothing to do with the old concept of an x and y register. They work exactly backwards compared to my 30 years of HP use. HP21, HP25, HP29c(?), HP41, HP48S, HP48SX, HP48GX, HP15C, HP32sii and a couple of others.

The same is true of the nth root of x key. Treating n as coming from a y register and x as coming from an x register works exactly backwards from how the key actually calculates.

Which is why I put forth the idea of a Geezer RPN mode that would make these keys 'correct' for (cough cough) experienced engineers such as myself. Call it 'legacy rpn' perhaps.

I don't memorize the keys as apparently some do. I actually look at them for a second for the clue as to how they operate and what they operate on. The Prime screws this up for me.

Some people cloud this argument with talk of limitless stacks vs 4 level stacks. It doesn't bear on this particular complaint. The 48 has a fine unlimited stack and the key labels perfectly correspond to X and Y registers making it completely clear which numbers are used for calculation.