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The 9100A was the world's
first programmable scientific desktop calculator. |
Really a desktop computer, the 9100A combined Reverse Polish Notation
(RPN)—a system for representing mathematical expressions without
the use of parentheses—with a special algorithm that could
handle trigonometric and logarithmic functions. HP
sold the 9100A as a calculator because at the time the perception
was that a computer had to be big to be credible. Bill Hewlett said
"If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by
our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM.
We, therefore, decided to call it a calculator and all such nonsense
disappeared."
The 9100A is now recognized throughout the industry as the first
desktop computer. In December 2000, Wired Magazine named
it the first personal computer.
Additional information:
- Read an article about the 9100A
originally published on HPNOW, an internal HP web site.
- See an original ad for the 9100A
that appeared in Science magazine. (PDF, 1.27MB)
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is by permission of the Hewlett-Packard Company.
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