Blue Collar Scientist

Over at Cosmic Variance, Julianne alerts us to a commanding advantage of the iPhone if you work in the fields of physics, astrophysics, or orbital mechanics:

I’ve written before about my husband’s affection, or rather, obsession with Apple. Like all good converts, he feels compelled to proselytize, particularly about my perceived need for an iPhone. “But honey, you can check your email!” “Hey look! Google Maps knows where you are!”. I remain unconvinced.

However, the other day, he nearly got me:

“Did you know it can emulate the HP-15C?”

Be. Still. My. Heart.

The HP-15C is simply the finest piece of handheld computing technology ever.

The 15C is no longer made. On eBay, used ones sell for nearly the price of a new iPhone. Go over to Cosmic Variance to get your 15C emulator for iPhone, and sign the petition to get HP to bring the classic calculator back.

Oh, by the way - I’m pretty sure that the Bad Astronomer said some very nice things about the 15C at TAM 5.5, after telling a story about his first scientific calculator, which came with (gak) biorhythm software.