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  • The HP 41C: The “Handheld Computer”

The HP 41C: The “Handheld Computer”

Top-down view of the HP 41C. Enlarge
HP 41C calculator being used by a person in a spacesuit. Enlarge
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Date: 1979

The HP 41C was one of many Hewlett-Packard calculators to blur the line between calculator and computer. It was the first Hewlett-Packard handheld device to feature an alphanumeric keyboard and expansion ports for peripherals. The ability to enter commands through words helped simplify the increasingly complex operations possible through a portable Hewlett-Packard device. It could also be hooked up to a printer, plotter or storage device. The space shuttle Challenger would take HP 41Cs on several missions. A later model, HP 41 CX released in 1983, would be called a “handheld computer” rather than a calculator.

Tags: 1970s • 1979 • Calculator • portable

( C ) HPCA

 
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