rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (01/25/84)
I tried this once before, but it got into the wrong newsgroup and subsequently wasn't seen by very many people. I am proposing creating net.micro.hp41 for the Hewlett Packard HP-41C, HP-41CV, and HP-41CX line and their peripherals and accessories. While the HP-41C has apparently been discontinued, HP has shown its intention of enduring development and support with the recent introduction of the HP-41CX. This line is not going to be phased out in favor of some improved design, if I read HP's actions right. I say this because the HP-41 is an extendable system, not your ordinary pocket calculator. In fact, the only reason I call it a calculator is because numerical data is stored in BCD format, not 2's (or even 1's) complement. HP-41 will always be King of Calculators and even rivals some personal computers in terms of versatility and storage, not to mention available software and other kinds of support. The way I see it, there are a lot of things which can be discussed in such a newsgroup. Even if we were to stick exclusively to synthetic programming, the conversations could be very active. Synthetic programming is, after all, still evolving. New discoveries are made so frequently I sometimes wonder if HP wanted HP-41 users to have these capabilities without having to support these "features". But apart from synthetic programming, there is a wealth of information to share about the HP-41. Software can be traded and examined. This could be user-originated or other published programs. A fascinating aspect of this topic is generating HP-41 bar code readable with the optical wand peripheral. This can be done with a variety of output media, from Daisy wheel printers to high-quality phototypeset machines and of course the HP thermal printer peripheral. The code capable of doing just this ranges from Basic to C to HP-41 code itself. I haven't even gotten into the HP-IL system and associated peripherals. Now it appears that one can even connect with a wide variety of other machines through one of several interfaces. I really don't mean to sound too much like a Hewlett Packard commercial, but the HP-41 is truly a versatile system. The possibilities for discussion in a newsgroup seem limitless. So it is readily apparent that there is plenty of material for discussion. This certainly appears to be the place for such a newsgroup. I propose the name net.micro.hp41 because "hp41" denotes the whole line (C, CV, and CX). I do not think "hp" is specific enough; should there be interest and topics for other HP stuff (e.g. the HP-150 or HP calculators) that could go in another newsgroup. The only doubt that remains in my mind is the quantity of interest. I don't intend to be one of three regular contributors to net.micro.hp41. Please mail to me (or, if you prefer, post to net.news.group) your comments on any of the points I've raised in this article. I welcome your opinions. Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
cej@ll1.UUCP (01/26/84)
[] While I wouldn't mind the idea of the creation of an H/P group if the response is great enough (I would subscribe myself), let's put ALL H/P articles in it (or at least all H/P micros, forget the 1000s & 3000s first, then see if there is any reason for additional groups. I mean, how many H/P articles have you seen? ..we13!ll1!cej Chuck Jones