Once again, I find myself in complete agreement with Gavin.  The 49G was a big
disappointment to me (as anyone who reads comp.sys.hp48 knows -- I haven't
exactly been coy with my remarks there).  My HP-41CX is one of my most treasured
possessions.  Powerful, expandable, capable of being connected to a wide range
of peripherals -- it's more like a handheld computer than a calculator.  Yet, it
also serves as an EXCELLENT calculator.  I'm also extremely fond of my HP-16C.
My son's HP 48GX has fewer options for expandability than my 41CX, but it has
impressive programming options and addresses much more memory.  The new 49G is
built on the 48 platform, but is even less expandable, and the construction is
much cheaper.  For example:

-- no infrared port (standard on all 48 models)
-- no slots for RAM cards (standard on 48SX and 48GX models)
-- stiff, unresponsive rubber keys instead of the traditional (excellent) HP
injection-molded plastic keys
-- plastic screen cover that produces "rainbow" effect and scratches easily --
many users pry their covers off and leave the LCD bare
-- traditional elegant, subdued HP colors replaced with garish colors more
fitting for cheap video games than engineering calculators
-- woefully inadequate documentation

About the only real advantages are new software (based largely on products,
including freeware, developed for the 48 series) and flash ROM that allows easy
software updates from HP's Web site.  That last feature is very handy due to the
number of bugs that have surfaced; there have been quite a few ROM updates since
the 49G was released.  Of course, they don't do you any good unless you have
Internet access and an HP interface cable (not included with the calculator).
If you don't want to buy the interface cable, you can get one as part of an
"informal upgrade kit" for free from HP -- but of course they don't tell you
about it unless you know the right questions to ask.

All in all, considering how long it's been since HP released a new high-end
calculator, I have to say that the 49G definitely *wasn't* worth the wait.

Wayne




Gavin Scott <[log in to unmask]> on 08/14/2000 05:27:34 PM

Please respond to Gavin Scott <[log in to unmask]>

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Wayne Brown/Corporate/Altec)

Subject:  [HP3000-L] "Invent": Where's the beef?



Greg after Wirt:
> Wirt wrote:
>>      http://www.hp.com/ghp/ceo/speeches/reinvent.html
>>      http://www.hp.com/ghp/ceo/speeches/invent.html

> From Reinvent:
[...]
> - ... you may remember that Hewlett-Packard, in fact, invented the very
> first information appliance. It was called the handheld calculator.

I love the things that Carly says publicly.  The list of "garage/invent"
slogans is quite wonderful.

But I'm afraid that I must confuse the incoming class of 2004 by asking the
question:

   Where's the beef?

So far I have not seen any change in HP which, on the whole, still seems to
be more interested in short term profits and chasing other people's ideas of
the future than in INVENTing anything themselves.  The current state of
affairs with the 3000 being ignored as one of HP's great "inventions" is one
small example.

I'll give you another.

One area where I pay more than an average amount of attention to what HP is
doing (other than the 3000 world) is their handheld calculators.

Long ago I was a TI calculator user until I was shown the error of my ways
(and could afford to buy HP calculators :-) and have owned a number of HP
handheld devices over the years.

HP's calculators were always true "inventions", each pushing the state of
the art in to new territory.  You picked up an HP calculator and you knew
you had a quality piece of equipment in your hand.

About a year ago, HP introduced their first new calculator (from the
recently reformed calculator division now ACO, the Australian Calculator
Operation), the HP-49G.

The design and keyboard layout of this new calculator seemed a bit odd until
someone showed me a TI-89 calculator from Texas Instruments.  The HP's
keyboard was a direct copy of the TI.  Not just "inspired by" or "similar
to" but a direct copy of almost every key, shifted operation, and even the
graphical icons used.

Someone in marketing must have literally handed a TI-89 to an engineer and
said "Make us one of these".

In the first publicly available versions of the software for the HP-49G,
several of the new "TI" keys had yet to be assigned any function (I guess
they weren't yet able to think of uses for all the keys they took from TI).

To me this says that HP had decided that they were incapable of INVENTing
anything better than what the competition had, and that the only way they
could sell their product was by making it indistinguishable from the
competition's product.

A little bit more of Bill and Dave's Hewlett-Packard died the day the HP-49G
was released.

To steal a line from another industry's advertising:

   This is not your father's Hewlett-Packard.

And I think that's very sad indeed.

Of those reading this who work for HP I would ask that you go and re-read
Carly's speeches referenced above, and think more about "INVENTing" new
things, things that Bill and Dave would be proud to have their company
produce.  And if your management says "No, we don't have the time or money
to do that" then show them what Carly has written and ask them if indeed
there is any beef.

G.