The HP 41C: The “Handheld Computer”

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.