Sliderules, Logs, and Prodigies

[Timothy C. May]

At 8:19 PM -0500 11/8/96, David Lesher / hated by RBOC's in 5 states wrote:
>As a HP-35 buyer when they first appeared in '72, I sonn found it
>simple to explain RPN by using a basic rule of good composition:
>avoid passive voice.
>
>The "+" key is not, of course "plus" rather it is the active voice
>term "add" and such.. And all commands are "active voice" unlike
>a TI where some were...
>
>Of course, I soon found far too many people had no grasp of active
>vs. passive voice........

Agreed. I think I adapted to RPN so quickly (less than 30 minutes at the
university bookstore, which had H-P 35s on display) because of this.

The problem "((5 + 7) * 4) / 3)" is easily understood as:

5 enter 7 add 4 multiply 3 divide

Once one groks RPN, it clearly is a speed win over entering parentheses and
that stuff. For any of you who are doubters, RPN usually produces far fewer
errors in identical calculations than Algebraic produces (the user errors,
not the hardware).

I found RPN ideal for exploratory calculations, where the stack orientation
was just so "natural."

This is not RPNpunks, but it seems that many of the younger subscribers
here really have not been exposed to RPN calculators. It's really worth the
$40 or so to buy the cheapest H-P calculator that has RPN.

(Be careful--not all H-P calculators are RPN these days. They bowed to
market pressure several years ago and introduced algebraic entry on their
low-end models.)

--Tim May

"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay at got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
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