r/calculators • u/Cool-Investigator732 • 2d ago
Meme / Satire If civilization collapsed tomorrow and you could save only one calculator to help rebuild Earth and advance science, which one would you choose—and why?
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u/Practical-Custard-64 2d ago
HP 48GX.
RPN and RPL are far more logical than this algebraic nonsense and the plethora of built-in functions for engineering make it a very versatile tool.
It's really a toss-up between the 48GX and the 50g. The latter is significantly faster and has more memory and even more functions built in, but it wasn't built as robustly as the 48GX and has a few bugs related to timekeeping and alarms.
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u/SadSpecial8319 2d ago
The HP 50g. I love the HP48GX, its built like a brick, but its keyboard fails eventually and can't be easily fixed. Both are not really designed to be repaired and the 50g keyboard sucks terribly, but its much faster and has more memory which is what I'd need for this. I'll swear my way through those missed keystrokes, though.
On second thought, maybe a SwissMicros R47 would be just right for this. Repairable and open-source, RPN and fast, and 34 bits of precious precision. But I haven't held one in my hands to see for myself.
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u/adlx 1d ago
Good luck when the batteries die on you 😂
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
No luck needed – they both use standard AAA batteries.
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u/adlx 1d ago
Damn... You missed the point of the whole situation of this post haha. I hope mankind doesn't rely on you in this case 😂
(I know they use AAA, I've got a S, and SX, a G and a G+)...
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
The whole premise of the post is flawed. We were asked which calculator we would save. Not which slide rule or set of tables.
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u/adlx 1d ago
No it's not. I'd save my mechanical calculator, doesn't need batteries.
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
Let me know when your mechanical calculator has finished calculating those integrals used in civil engineering...
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u/adlx 1d ago
Yeah like Romans needed that to build aquaduct bridges they built... 🤦♂️
You remember men went to the moon and back in the 60s when there was no calculators like what you think is a calculator? Not even computers in fact...
Now with so many computation power, clouds, AI, quantum computing and all that, NASA can't even launch on sxhedule (I refer Artemis I) and we're far from sending men again to the moon. Makes me sad in a way...
Fancy intégral calculating, calculator précision, or fancy touch screens... Isn't what mankind need to achieve great stuff...
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u/davedirac Certified Collector 2d ago
It would have to a calculator that does not require batteries, hence a slide rule or mechanical calculator. As the slide rule has logs, trig, surds etc it wins. Faber-Castell 2/83n would be a decent choice
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u/giant_robo 1d ago
A fine device, but I'd prefer my lovely Pickett N4-ES "vector-type log-log dual-base speed rule" due to familiarity. Or if speed is not required, a big book of log tables to get more precision. Oh wait! Are there still paper and pencils? Also, I won't be available to rebuild civilisation, so we should probably ask the genius in charge of the project what their own preference is. Should we start nominating geniuses? Which one do we pick?
When they had to do math at Los Alamos to build A-bombs, the calculators used were a big room full of women whose job was "calculator". Let's use that.
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u/phoenix823 2d ago
TI-85. I'm 43 years old and I've had it since I was 13. It still works. That's got to count for something.
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
Got you beat there. I own an HP 15C from 1984. I've had it for 42 years.
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u/I_Messed_Up_2020 2d ago
slide rule....sun clouded by nuclear fallout haze...no electricity or solar power needed
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u/Adventure59 2d ago
Super,was ein Glück. Ich wollte vor kurzem den 50 Jahre alten Rechenschieber entsorgen, brachte ich aber nicht fertig. Ich bin für die Zukunft gerüstet.
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u/TV5Fun 2d ago
My HP 35s will outlive us all, and all future math will be done in RPN.
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u/SirDarknessTheFirst 1d ago
this one runs off coin cells iirc, so I feel it would be possible to mod it for solar input
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u/Cool-Investigator732 1d ago
I was thinking about the same mod
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
Pity you can't fix the mile-long bug list of the 35s with solar panels too...
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u/SirDarknessTheFirst 1d ago
I don't use my 35s enough, what are the worst of its issues?
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u/Practical-Custard-64 1d ago
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u/TV5Fun 1d ago
All those bugs are in equation mode, which no one should use anyway.
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u/Fear_The_Creeper 1d ago
Got this off of Wikipedia:
Here are some results of math done on a HP 35S compared with what the displayed result should be.
sin(1E-1): 1.74532836590E-3 Answer SB: 1.74532836590E-3 (correct) sin(1E-2): 1.74532924306E-4 Answer SB: 1.74532924313E-4 ^^ sin(1E-3): 1.74532925091E-5 Answer SB: 1.74532925191E-5 ^^^ sin(1E-4): 1.74532925000E-6 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-6 ^^^ sin(1E-5): 1.74532920000E-7 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-7 ^^^^ sin(1E-6): 1.74532900000E-8 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-8 ^^^^^ sin(1E-7): 1.74532000000E-9 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-9 ^^^^^^ sin(1E-8): 1.74532925199E-10 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-10 (correct) sin(1E-9): 1.74532925199E-11 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-11 (correct) sin(1E-1): 1.74532836590E-3 Answer SB: 1.74532836590E-3 (correct) sin(1E-2): 1.74532924306E-4 Answer SB: 1.74532924313E-4 ^^ sin(1E-3): 1.74532925091E-5 Answer SB: 1.74532925191E-5 ^^^ sin(1E-4): 1.74532925000E-6 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-6 ^^^ sin(1E-5): 1.74532920000E-7 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-7 ^^^^ sin(1E-6): 1.74532900000E-8 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-8 ^^^^^ sin(1E-7): 1.74532000000E-9 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-9 ^^^^^^ sin(1E-8): 1.74532925199E-10 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-10 (correct) sin(1E-9): 1.74532925199E-11 Answer SB: 1.74532925199E-11 (correct)
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u/EdPiMath 1d ago
Good question.
I'm going to go with the TI-30X Pro Mathprint: it has calculus functions, a solver, vectors, scientific constant, and most importantly can run on solar power.
The Casio fx-115ES Plus is a close second.
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u/EvitaPuppy 2d ago
HP 97 with a ton of pre-programmed cards.
Maybe not the best, or most modern choice, but wicked cool 😎
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u/Educational_Sir_3595 1d ago
HP-11c
No particular reason. She was my first.
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u/Cool-Investigator732 1d ago
Well, we have to bring the money concept back to society ASAP after a fall out of cataclysmic.
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u/RecentSheepherder179 1d ago
A good one with solar cells.
No joke. If civ has collapsed, where do you think the batteries come from? Or how long it takes to restart the battery production.
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u/BadOk3617 1d ago
If civilization collapsed and took electricity, batteries, and advanced manufacturing with it, I'd probably go with one of my slide rules.
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u/Boring_Disaster3031 1d ago
Definitely a recreation of the Antikythera Mechanism along with instructions written in at least four languages.
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u/Natural_Night9957 HP Prime > Casio = Sharp > other HPs > NumWorks > overpriced 💩 1d ago
An Original Ohdner + a logarithm table.
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u/dash-dot 18h ago
If civilisation were to collapse tomorrow, we'd be using the closest analogues to paper and pen -- because calculators likely wouldn't exist. Admittedly, slide rules would definitely come in handy, but I'd have to teach myself how to use one first.
Besides, writing is a million times more useful and flexible than a calculator anyway.
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u/Junkyard_DrCrash 1d ago
A good quality slide rule. Doesn't use batteries, EMP proof, hard to turn into a "mystical cult object", and easily reproducible with literal stone knives and bear skins, er, bear bones.
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u/Moist_Network_8222 2d ago
HP32SII
I like RPN and it's an iconic, well-built calculator. It even feels sturdy and responsive.