From: phr@telebit.com (Paul Rubin)
Subject: Re: The "high price" of the HP48!
Organization: Telebit Corporation; Sunnyvale, CA, USA
	<PHR.92Dec25155736@napa.telebit.com>
	<1992Dec26.052935.17881@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
	<PHR.92Dec30220240@napa.telebit.com> <jcFds*740@lemsys.UUCP>
	<PHR.92Dec31121439@napa.telebit.
	<STEVEV.92Dec31204622@miser.uoregon.edu>
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 05:48:54 GMT

In article <STEVEV.92Dec31204622@miser.uoregon.edu> stevev@miser.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) writes:

   So, Paul, where are you going with all this?  You don't think the
   HP 48 is a good investment, or that there is no reason to get an
   HP 48 when you can get a much cheaper (and much less powerful)
   calculator, or buy a computer with mathematical software.  I feel
   very happy that I bought an HP 48, and not some cheap calculator.
   I don't think we're going to change each other's minds.

I don't need to change your mind.  You say later in your article
that you didn't buy a 48 while you were a student.  That's all
I've been saying---for a student with very limited cash, a 48
isn't an important buy, and they shouldn't starve themselves
or skimp on textbooks or computers in order to own a 48.

   In many ways the HP 48 was designed to appeal to people who have
   owned other HP calculators -- the peculiar nature of RPL as a
   programming language is a particular consequence of this, since
   previous HP calculators used stack-based programming languages
   vaguely like FORTH. 

I feel the 48's processor has become so powerful that one needs
a decent software development environment to make good use of it.
If there were compilers etc. for it (like for the 95), it would make 
more sense, it seems to me.

   And while you scoff at the variety of "frivolous" applications
   for the HP 48, like games, remote-control programs, or even the
   amusing tricorder simulation posted today, those applications
   provide the gee-whiz factor that entices many people to buy the
   HP 48.

I've never scoffed at those programs (ok, I couldn't resist the
cheap shot about playing pacman in class).  In fact the IR programs
were one of the things that tempted me to buy a 48, a temptation
I managed to resist.

   I can take the HP 48 with me
   nearly all the time, and use it wherever I am, even for long
   periods of time -- a laptop isn't as portable and has a much
   shorter battery life (where can you get a laptop that runs for
   one or two months on 3 AAA batteries?).

How about a 95LX?  A Poqet PC (not sure)?

   Admittedly, I didn't buy my HP 48 while I was a student.  I
   bought it because I'm a computer programmer and I could use both
   a good technical calculator and a programming toy.  

It is a much more reasonable buy for someone in your position.  Now
that I'm working full time I've spent larger amounts on more frivolous
things than an HP48, but as a student (3 months ago, in my case) it
still seems like it would have been a financially unwise move.

   While you have spawned an interesting discussion, you are also
   beginning to repeat yourself.  You can't justify buying an HP 48
   for yourself, but other people have justified buying them, and
   most of those people seem pretty happy with their decisions.
   That doesn't mean that anyone is wrong, or that we have to
   justify our decisions to each other.

You are correct, I probably have kept this up for too long.  But while
I'm glad for people who are happy with their 48's, I'm still waiting
to hear how the technical capabilities of the 48 fills an actual need
of typical college students.  One can be happy with something without
it filling such a need.  E.g., I'm happy with my stereo system but it
didn't make me a better student.  If someone posted a message saying
students in all curricula should have fancy stereo systems, I'd have
reacted the same way that I did about the 48.
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