PolyMac - 1st Programmable Pocket Calculator
Event details
| Date | 21.11.2016 |
| Hour | 18:15 › 20:00 |
| Speaker | Francois Roulet |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
The world's first programmable pocket calculator
Nicknamed "Superstar" the HP-65 was the first magnetic card-programmable handheld calculator, which is why some call it the "world's first handheld computer". The HP-65 could read from and write to magnetic cards, allowing the user to buy program cards from HP or save programs on cards.
Although the HP-65 was similar to the HP-35, HP's first handheld scientific calculator, new features included a card reader, the slot to hold a card below the display.
The HP-65 cost $795 (2584 CHF) when it was introduced in 1974.
We will study the operation of his User program circular memory
The memory itself contains no absolute addresses. Instead, it is a circulating shift register organized in to 6-bit words. One word is a marker that denotes the boundary between the beginning and the end of the memory. Another word is a pointer which denotes the last step executed in run mode, and the last step filled in program mode. As a program runs, this pointer is moved down through memory. Branching is accomplished by moving the pointer to the location of the destination label. User-defined function calls are implemented by leaving the main pointer at the call and activating a second pointer at the function location. When the return to the calling location occurs, the second pointer is deactivated and the first pointer reactivated.
Nicknamed "Superstar" the HP-65 was the first magnetic card-programmable handheld calculator, which is why some call it the "world's first handheld computer". The HP-65 could read from and write to magnetic cards, allowing the user to buy program cards from HP or save programs on cards.
Although the HP-65 was similar to the HP-35, HP's first handheld scientific calculator, new features included a card reader, the slot to hold a card below the display.
The HP-65 cost $795 (2584 CHF) when it was introduced in 1974.
We will study the operation of his User program circular memory
The memory itself contains no absolute addresses. Instead, it is a circulating shift register organized in to 6-bit words. One word is a marker that denotes the boundary between the beginning and the end of the memory. Another word is a pointer which denotes the last step executed in run mode, and the last step filled in program mode. As a program runs, this pointer is moved down through memory. Branching is accomplished by moving the pointer to the location of the destination label. User-defined function calls are implemented by leaving the main pointer at the call and activating a second pointer at the function location. When the return to the calling location occurs, the second pointer is deactivated and the first pointer reactivated.
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Practical information
- General public
- Free