For most of us, a calculator may have been replaced by Excel or an app on a phone, but there is still a die-hard contingent with a passion for push-button wonders. So the shocking discovery of an apparently rogue HP-12C has sent tremors through the calculator aficionado world.
HP-12C
The HP-12C [PDF] is a remarkably long-lived financial calculator from Hewlett-Packard (HP). It first appeared in 1981 and has continued in production ever since, with only the odd tweak here and there to the hardware.
A sibling, the HP-12C Platinum, was introduced in 2003, adding to the functionality but retaining the lovely aesthetics of the 70s and early 80s. According to The Museum of HP Calculators, "Although similar in appearance and function, it appears to be a complete re-implementation of an OEM (Kinpo) based on scans of HP manuals from the museum."
Above: The older model of the original Hewlett-Packard 12C financial calculator (still in production) and below: The sibling HP-12C Platinum…
