Daily Giz Wiz 415: HP35
Episode 415 of the podcast
| Subject: | Review of HP35 |
| Released: | Friday 5 October 2007 |
| Length: | about 13 minutes |
| Download file: | dgw0415.mp3 (6.1 MB) |
Listen to the episode
Short info
From the Gadget Warehouse: we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the HP35 calculator.
(source: twit.tv/dgw415)
Detailed information
Link: HP Museum
From 1972, the HP35 from Hewlett Packard was the world's first scientific pocket calculator (with trigonometric and exponential functions), using Revese Polish Notation. Before then, portable devices could only manage arithmetics: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Scientific functions were performed by slide rules. Bill Hewlett disregarded market studies at the time which showed that there was little demand for such a portable device and started developing the HP35. It proved extremely popular in the market.The device was called the HP35 because it had 35 buttons. 35 years on, HP releases a modern version of it, the HP35s.
The Two Steves
Steve Wozniak went to work for HP on the HP35. Leo thinks that Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen mini-van, and Steve Wozniak sold his HP35, to fund the development of the Apple I.
Warehouse Jingle, Finally!
The Gadget Warehouse Jingle, a collaboration by George Wood from Edinburgh and Paul Minshall from Vancouver, DGW's favourite jingle writers, is finally aired. Listen to it on Paul Minshall's blog (where he also explains the inspiration for the jingle).
NBC Programming
George Gray from Richmond, Virginia (who wrote about the DVD Rewinder in Episode 172) says that the "cheesy programmer" for NBC (Episode 398) was Fred Silverman, who was responsible for such programmes as Super Train, BJ and the Bear, Susan Anton and Sheriff Lobo. Prior to NBC, Silverman had turned ABC around.
(source: insidedgw.vox.com)
