HHC 2009
Joe Horn
HHC 2009 was held in the Hewlett Packard campus of Fort Collins, just
north of Denver, Colorado. The whole state seems to be so clean (free
of trash and grime) and decorated with huge mountains that it reminds
me of Switzerland. But I digress.
In my oh-so-humble opinion, the talks this year were the best ever.
Geoff Quickfall from Canada won the Best Speaker award, which he
richly deserved, for his demonstration of how to take apart some
classic HP calculators and peripherals, fix them, and put them back
together again. He included in the conference Proceedings a chapter
from his soon-to-be-published book on that subject. He even included
an HP Calculator Repair Kit in everybody's conference packet! A great
guy, a great talk, a great presentation. Way to go, Geoff!
HP not only let us use their facilities for the conference, they even
paid for the lunches and the Saturday Evening Dinner! Yowza.
I'd love to tell you some of the details that HP revealed to us
regarding their plans for calculators, but I can't, because all the
attendees signed non-disclosure agreements. Aren't you glad you
attended? We all agreed that we'd love to meet in Fort Collins again
for HHC 2010.
Richard Nelson's complete conference report will be posted on the HHC
2009 website soon. Jake videotaped the whole conference, and I took
over 1000 photos with my new baby, a Nikon D90. You poor unfortunate
souls who couldn't attend will therefore soon be able to attend a
virtual re-enactment of it.
The speakers and their topix are on the website. See www.hhuc.us for
all the HHC websites.
-Joe-
Jim Horn
was unable. We eagerly await any and all reports (and the new HP
machines, whatever they may be).
Jim (Wasn't the 2000 HHC about the '49G?)
Jim Horn
the others or any of the handouts) be available on the Web anywhere?
Thanks!!
Jim
Brian Walsh
Sunday :-) Nonetheless it was a great time and it was wonderful to
see everyone again and meet some new faces. I reported on the
conference at this week's CHIP meeting and look forward to the videos
from Jake. The NIST tour was interesting, but the weather was awful!
Brian
Geoff Quickfall
best one yet but my sample size is only two, so I will reserve judgement
until I hit another 28 at least!
If you have never been, you should try to make one. Also, I thought there
were many more Best Speakers.
Richard Nelsons HPIL display was phenomenal, amazing even diehard HP-41 fans
with the plethora of add-ons that occured with the HPIL. There was also a
PIL box on display and that along with Egan Fords PIL box talk convinced me
to purchase one.
I won't go into a long description as the pictures will be up shortly I am
sure.
Suffice to say, thanks to the Committee
Richard Nelson
Joseph Horn
Jake Swartz
Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz
Gene Wright
The helpers to the committe need thanking but all their names elude me, so
thanks everyone.
And also the HP contingent:
Cyrille de Brebisson
Tim Wessman and Dirk Dykson
Looking forward to next year,
Cheers, Geoff
Radag
I know you signed NDA but could you at least tell if there are any new
calculators to succeed the HP50g to be released soon? I had an hp48gs
that I lost and I am now planning to buy an HP50g, but I could wait 6
months if a new calculator is to be released in the near term.
aplnub
I have been following this group since as long as I can remember. I
have even posted in spurts. I can tell you that since the 49G/50G that
I am so disappointed in HP I am disgusted with them. I have a shel
full of 48G(x)'s put up because the 50G is that bad. I still hate that
calculator.
I have always heard great things from the HHC's and almost attended
one a few years back when it was in California I think. I would not
even for a second get my hopes up that a new calculator is coming
because HP doesn't seem to be "that" kind of company anymore.
Joel Koltner
news:ce66d574-6709-4ce8...@v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
"I have always heard great things from the HHC's and almost attended
one a few years back when it was in California I think. I would not
even for a second get my hopes up that a new calculator is coming
because HP doesn't seem to be "that" kind of company anymore."
I think you're right... the one HHC I attended a couple years back had some
nice "potential new calculator model" mock-ups, and I've been told that the
such displays had occurred for a number of years, but none of them have ever
made it out of HP's labs.
My suspicion is that if Agilent had inherited the calculator division, we
would have seen some worthy HP 48/50g successors, but with the "computer"
division at the helm, HP will probalby just license designs from other
manufacturers and slap their names on it, as they do with their computers.
Still, realizing that these days for any "heavy duty" number crunching most
people are just going to whip out a laptop computer anyway, even the old HP 48
series fulfills my "quick calculation" needs. I'd glad that these great
classics are still readily and inexpensively available, and I do like the 50g
overall, even if it doesn't have quite the same level of mechanical robustness
as the earlier models.
---Joel
Joe Horn
> I have a shel full of 48G(x)'s put up because
> the 50G is that bad. I still hate that calculator.
I totally agree about the 49G and 49G+, but the 50g? Really? What is
wrong with the 50g? Seriously, I'd like to know.
-Joe-
John H Meyers
aplnub:
>> I have a shelf full of 48G(x)'s put up because
>> the 50G is that bad. I still hate that calculator.
Joe Horn:
> I totally agree about the 49G and 49G+,...
Wait a minute -- what was wrong with the 49G?
Just that the key printing wore off?
It turns out that this was actually a Good Thing,
because it strengthened memory skills,
like the TV game "Concentration,"
or like gambler "Big Jule" in "Guys & Dolls,"
for whom dice with the spots rubbed off
were no problem at all, because,
as he informed Nathan Detroit,
"I remember where the spots were" :)
---
Big Jule:
Well, I used to be bad when I was a kid,
but ever since then I've gone straight,
as has been proved by my record:
Thirty-three arrests and no convictions!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048140/quotes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guys_and_Dolls_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guys_and_Dolls
The Horse Right Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl6MHgh1vFQ
-[ ]-
Joe Horn
> Just that the key printing wore off?
> It turns out that this was actually a Good Thing,
BWAH Hah hah! Two points for your team. :-)
I also hated how hard it was to press those rubbery keys that felt
like little dead critters with rigor mortis. And their goofy shape,
oftentimes installed upside down (to keep Murphy happy). And the
overall "Frozen Hamster Butt" color scheme. And the easy-to-scratch
display screen. Other than that, I liked it.
-Joe-
rs1n
Seems like the only thing left to like about those models were the
three AAA batteries.