HP releases iPhone versions of classic calculators | Hacker News Reader

HP releases iPhone versions of classic calculators

macworld.com

12 pointszimbabwe19 comments

When do I get an iPhone TI-85 app, so that I can play tetris like back in calculus class?

You can't. It can run third-party program code, and so violates the AppStore ToS.

So does that mean you can't program these HP emulators? I see the [R/S] key right there in the screenshots.

That's really funny. The HP-12C is still extremely popular at work. I could never bring myself to get used to it -- I still use my TI-89 from college -- and I get a lot of flak from the rest of the office.

Tapping into the nostalgic geek market? As much as I like the HP 15C, I'm not spending $30 for an iPhone version of it. They need to re-evaluate their price.

I think their price is more-or-less reasonable in terms of the value provided and in comparison to application pricing for other mobile platforms:

http://www.berryreview.com/2008/04/22/review-calculator-apps...

http://www.berryreview.com/2008/07/31/calculator-apps-part-5...

iPhone application prices are unsustainably low. I find the $30 price point to be a very encouraging sign.

Just curious- in what respect are the prices unsustainable? Couldn't one as easily argue that the Blackberry app prices are unsustainably high?

Unless you produce one of the very few 'hits', you'll lose money developing a $1.99 application.

you lose even more money developing an application that costs more than $2.99 - because nobody buys them.

If that's the case, then the market is unsustainable. Players will fail, causing scarcity, raising the value of applications, and conditioning users to expect to pay more.

The noise it makes when you push the keys is repellent but it is very close otherwise to the HPs I remember. I really want a 41CX, tho.

For me, the ultimate HP calculator was the HP41CX. You could even hack it using a technique called "synthetic" programming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-41

I even had the magnetic card reader so I could store programs.

In my opinion, RPN gave me a big speed advantage at school during exams.

hpcalc has been a project on google code since 2008. (Yes, you need a developer's license to build and install it - or know a developer who can build you an ad hoc distribution copy)

http://code.google.com/p/hpcalc-iphone/

what good is that? I don't want a virtual HP-11C. I want real buttons (hint, hint).

You want real buttons, you can get a real HP 12c on ebay for $10.

So far nobody's invented a device that's capable of shape-shifting, so replicating the interface via touch is as good as you can get without actually buying the calculator.

OMFG I WAS ABOUT TO SAY "BEST DAY EVER" and then I realized the 48g with RPN wasn't there ;(

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