Might A Tablet Be The Ideal Platform/UI for a Highly Complex Calculator?

Jake Schwartz

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2009: HP Releases 12C & 15C Apps for the iPhone

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Apps Were Enhanced Beyond The Simple VoyagerEmulator

Walter Bonin’s Projects

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2008: “Imagine”

2010: 30b Repurposing

Further Enhancements Could Take Advantage of Their Host Platforms

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• No hardware manufacturing issues• Plenty of processing power / speed

Example 1: Free42 byThomas Okken with significantly more program memory

• Plenty of memory• Easy off-line storage for sharing user-generated data

Example 2: 42S RPN Calc with larger displayfor more stack levels or more program steps

What About Apps on Tablets?

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• Larger touch screens could allow for enhanced simulatedkeyboards and screens

• Simplified menu “labyrinths” possible

• More data and/or graphics can be displayed at once

The HP18C from1986

18C Menus

Same Problem With the HP 50g

Proposed Back in 1989…

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HP28SLeft-sideKeyboard

An “Extended” 50g Tablet Application

• The challenge would be toport calculators to tablet platformsand enhance them to take advantage of the increased“real estate” for bigger screensand keyboards

• Going farther than handheld hardware can go:

• More keys / fewer keystrokes• More soft-keys for user menus• Larger objects displayed• More complex graphics• Better input-forms

• Consider creating new advanced calc apps from scratch for the tablet environment