24 February 2008
My Trusty HP12C Calculator...on my Mac
02/24/08 13:17 Filed in: Apple
My trusty HP12C calculator is coming up on its 20th
birthday party. Ever since my B-school days at
Dartmouth College in 1988-1990, it has provided me
with steady reliable functionality. I cannot image
living without it.
One key different between HP12C calculator and others, besides the reliablity and excellent keys, is the use of reverse polish notation (RPN). In short, rather than inputting "1+1=" to get an answer, you input "1 enter 1 +". It uses the concept of a stack to store intermediate values. For a simple equation like "1+1", it is not relevant, but, for complex equations like (5+6)*(42-23)+24, RPN is much more effective. Of course, once you start using an RPN calculator, you become totally dysfunctional with a regular calculator beyond a simple "1+1="!
Not normally a problem since I have the trusty 12C; however, it always was a problem with standard calculators on PCs. Not with Leopard on my Mac! The standard calculator in Leopard can be easily converted to RPN with a simple Command-R. Nevertheless, it is not the same layout as my HP12C and doesn't come with all the same functionality.
That has changed...enter nonpareil for Mac OSX.
Nonpareil is a simulator of vintage HP calculators that was originally written for Linux. At this site, you can get a version for Mac OSX for your favorite HP calculator. Enjoy!
One key different between HP12C calculator and others, besides the reliablity and excellent keys, is the use of reverse polish notation (RPN). In short, rather than inputting "1+1=" to get an answer, you input "1 enter 1 +". It uses the concept of a stack to store intermediate values. For a simple equation like "1+1", it is not relevant, but, for complex equations like (5+6)*(42-23)+24, RPN is much more effective. Of course, once you start using an RPN calculator, you become totally dysfunctional with a regular calculator beyond a simple "1+1="!
Not normally a problem since I have the trusty 12C; however, it always was a problem with standard calculators on PCs. Not with Leopard on my Mac! The standard calculator in Leopard can be easily converted to RPN with a simple Command-R. Nevertheless, it is not the same layout as my HP12C and doesn't come with all the same functionality.
That has changed...enter nonpareil for Mac OSX.
Nonpareil is a simulator of vintage HP calculators that was originally written for Linux. At this site, you can get a version for Mac OSX for your favorite HP calculator. Enjoy!
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