Can we have RPN back?

[Han]

(03-31-2014 03:37 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:  I disagree, and here's why. On Prime, press and hold down Enter with your right hand. You can still see all the digit keys; your hand is not in the way. Now (also using your right hand) press and hold down ENTER on any other big-ENTER-key HP calculator. You can't see several digit keys, because your hand is in the way.

So having the ENTER key on the left side always seemed to me to be a design mistake for right-handed people, since you can't see what you're going to press next while pressing ENTER. This slows down the user. Ditto for the arithmetic keys; it's nice to be able to see the next number's keys while performing arithmetic. Prime has all 5 keys on the right, which (as explained above) is the most efficient side for right-handed people.

You make a very valid point. That said, my first HP calculator was an HP 48, with its ENTER key on the left. I learned to use my calculator with two hands (typing with both thumbs!) and this enabled me to alternate buttons very quickly. This was due to having played many video games on the GAMEBOY, so I was very used to holding the calculator with two hands and using my thumbs to alternately type. So while ENTER on the right may seem logical as all the other operations are also on the right, it would slow me down considerably. Imagine typing 2 SIN 4 * ENTER + -- with ENTER on the left, I can alternate between left and right thumbs to quickly access the last three operations, whereas it would be much slower for me to use just my right thumb to press * ENTER +. I see having ENTER on the left being as useful as having the keys on a PC keyboard laid out in non-alphabetical order.