The following article is a good reply to the guy who recently said
that the HP48 is a silly toy and that we should really be using
computers.  *sigh*  Cybersnobbery lives on.

The first person to popularize the use of the term "PPC" to stand for
"Programmable Pocket Calculator" was Craig Pearce, an early member of
the HP-65 User's Club.  Although he refers below to "a PPC club from
California", the club's name was not yet "PPC"; Craig is merely
referring to the HP-65 User's Club as a club of users of programmable
pocket calculators.

Enjoy this glimpse into The Way Things Were...

-Joe-

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THE PROGRAMMABLE POCKET CALCULATOR OWNER:
WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?
by Craig Pearce (311), Berwyn, Illinois

"65 Notes", V3 N6 P2 (July 1976)

It began innocently enough at the last meeting of CACHE, and the
incident has left such a scar on me that I feel I must bring the
entire thing out into the open. Of course, the whole thing should
have been clear to me from the start, and would have been were it
not for my naive faith in human nature.

I was speaking with Ted Nelson, author of the book "Computer Lib
and Dream Machines", about the coming age of a computer in every
home. It is a good and exciting dream and Mr. Nelson's enthusiasm
on bringing the µPs out of the closet and away from the 'cybercrud'
types that can still be found veiling these computing devices in
shrouds of mystery cannot be outdone.

Since my interests are many, I naturally brought up the subject of
the programmable calculators. You'll never guess what Ted -- a
computer for everyone -- Nelson did. He laughed! He flatly stated
that if it couldn't do graphics on a CRT it wasn't a computer, and
laughed. When he learned that some machines had the ability to
store and play back programs on magnetic cards, he roared even
more.

"Why bother...what for?", he added, equating that feature as being
as ridiculous as a somewhat off-color joke in Mel Brooks' "Silent
Movie".

Needless to say, I was stunned. Here is a man that wants to see
the computer come out from the false complexities that surround it,
and make that power available to everyone, and then makes a state-
ment as he did.

Then, slowly, the pieces began to fall into place. I began to see
an ever-clearing picture. It isn't just Mr. Nelson, it's nearly
everyone. Didn't Bill Precht himself include the PPC in any survey
only when reminded that they exist? Hadn't all attempts to stir
interest in a calculator sub-group failed? It's all a clear case
of Cybersnobbery.

Ah, you may say, but my machine *is* better. I can control several
input and output ports; I can run things in my home; my memory is
expandable; my speed quicker. And, granted, it's all true, and I
would hardly be the one to want and say that the PPC is actually
better than a SWTP 6800, or Altair, or Imsai, or what-have-you.
After all, I own a µP too. The question is, is a µP better than a
PPC?

I let you be the judge.

Over the past several meetings, I have seen and heard talk on sev-
eral pieces of software. These include such interesting ones as
diagnostics (to see if the damn machine is working), an 8080-Edu-
cator program that actually lets you see four whole registers as
you input a limited number of commands, one at a time. Then there
is a whole list of programs that can transfer data. Now that's
really something!

"What can you do with your computer", a friend asks.

"I can run a program that relocates itself in RAN", you proudly
answer. Terrific! Or how about one that will fill a CRT screen
with a character or some oddball pattern. Great way to spend an
evening!

And what about all those 'things' that can be controlled around the
house? Heating, air-conditioning, and the like. We've all got that
programmed in, right? We don't? Takes too long to rewire the
house, you say. Don't really want to trust your machine at running
all times? I see.

Okay, so what I'm getting at is that while the µP has great promise,
all the predictions haven't yet come to pass.

What can the PPC do, however? Probably nothing that you couldn't
program your micro to do, of course. Certainly not in the number
of steps, however. For example, with the HP-65, the user has 100
6-bit program steps at his disposal. How many can program their
micro to multiply two 18-digit numbers and produce a 36-digit prod-
uct in 100 bytes? How about Hexapawn, or a cybernetic Nimb game?
If I were so inclined, I could pass a card through my 65 and load
in a 100-step program to perform "Parallax Transformations in a
Celestial Reference System". I can also balance my checkbook, per-
form trend line analysis, compute components for a Chebyshev filter,
check male pulmonary functions, navigate a ship, fly a plane by one
or two VORs, have a game of Hangman using an alphabetic overlay of
the keys, or simulate a dime slot machine that duplicates all stan-
dard payoff combinations. And I can do all this at the time I need
it. My machine fits into a pocket and operates from batteries.

An owner of an SR-52 has the ability to do binary searches; linked
list; manipulation of subscripted variables and arrays; interrupt
processing; dynamic code modification; op code translation; linked
editing, loading and execution; overlays paging; and yes, Ted, even
output graphics, via the attachable printer. The new HP-67/97 ser-
ies opens up even more advanced programming techniques.

Speed? The programmable calculator is slow. Remember, however,
that it runs in an interpretive mode. A loop that takes 15 minutes
on a KIM 1 might take 30 days on a PPC. However, whatever reason
for the loop, chances are the function is already available at the
touch of a key on the PPC. Accuracy can't be beaten. The PPCs I'm
familiar with have 10 digits of accuracy with a range of lXl0**-99
to 9.999999999X10**99 for both positive and negative numbers. That
range actually exceeds the volume of the known universe in cubic
microns!

Mr. Nelson predicts that over 10,000 people are going to attend the
upcoming convention and that this will really get the public aware
of computers. Well, just as a point of interest, many people I've
talked to have become interested in this, the greatest of all hob-
bies through the PPCs. And there are 70,000 of us. I personally
belong to a PPC club from California that has over 1250 members
nationwide, with membership growing through word of mouth only.
Face it, the PPC has always had more public exposure than the aver-
age micro.

Just who does a PPC owner think he is? He (or she) is a person that
needs computing power, without the time to wait for time sharing;
a person who needs this power at odd times and places that won't
allow for some remote terminal. A PPC owner takes pride in accomp-
lishing difficult computing tasks on a small, limited memory ma-
chine.

(Did anyone know that two HP-65s went along on the American/Russian
skylab mission and were used to back up and confirm the results ob-
tained by the onboard computer?)

Maybe this whole thing has been stated pretty strong. And maybe it
has to be. I'm not saying 'down with the micro-computer'. I'm
saying 'down with cyber-snobbery'. Maybe the lowly PPC can't ever
hope to do all the advanced functions of a genuine micro, and it
really shouldn't. But to just laugh, and think that it will never
play a role in personal computing is absurd. It already has!

Craig Pearce (311) Berwyn, IL