[cctalk] Re: terminology [was: First Personal Computer]

Mike Katz wrote: That is not true. Technically, out of the box, it was the HP 9830. Yes, it wasn't a handheld calculator, and it didn't run on batteries(it was big and quite heavy and required standard 115V AC power), but it had an alpha-numeric display(and optionally a printer) that could be programmatically written to, and the machine could accept alpha-numeric input and process it as such. The HP 9820 had an alphanumeric display, and could be programmed to generate alphanumeric prompts on the display, but I don't believe (off the top of my head, I could be wrong) it had the capability to accept and process alpha-numerics out of the box. The HP 9820 and 9830 were introduced in June of 1972. Seven years before the HP-41. -Rick -- Rick Bensene The Old Calculator Museum https://oldcalculatormuseum.com Beavercreek, OR USA