Imagesource: https://sarahkmarr.com/

And because summer, especially July, traditionally brings a bit more free time, a developer came up with a project that was initially inconspicuous but turned out to be a real hit.

The HP-35, introduced in 1972 by Hewlett-Packard, was the first handheld calculator to offer transcendental functions, sparking the era of scientific pocket calculators. The HP-45 was an upgraded version, boasting additional features such as trigonometric, logarithmic, and exponential functions. The HP-80 was HP's first business calculator, pioneering financial functions, including loan calculations, interest rates, and standard deviation, making it a popular tool among finance professionals and business people.

Computer science at its finest. 😍 And for those who can't resist the allure of 8-bit systems, they're likely drawn to these machines as well.

There are quite a few reimplementations of these calculators, but a genuine homage not only to the hardware and software but also to the era itself came from Sarah K. Marr, aka @sarahkmarr.

Her HP1973 not only features the original ROMs of the machines, incredible documentation, and authentic functionality. No, Sarah has perfectly captured the spirit of these little computation workhorses in a UI that not only comes in seven stunning themes but also makes the inner workings of the machine visible from the outside.

The download is more than worth it, and along with the source code (Thank you!), there are standalone versions for Mac and Windows.

This is retrocomputing at its best! 🙌