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Visual cues are distracting. They're training wheels. The ideal calculator has either a) so few functions that you can remember all of them trivially, or b) so
by byrneseyeview 17y ago
Visual cues are distracting. They're training wheels. The ideal calculator has either a) so few functions that you can remember all of them trivially, or b) so many functions that it would be ludicrous to display them all (or to omit some). I can't think of any smart compromise in between.
For example, let's say your calculator supports trig functions. Should it show you sine / cosine / tangent? Or all trig functions? Or should you dive into a "Trig" menu, so you're three clicks away from what you want to do, instead of being three keystrokes away?
I've never had a reason to use trig functions in my desktop calculator. And yet, (sin (/ pi 2)) does exactly what I'd expect it to!
- protomyth 17y agosin (/ pi 2)) doesn't look the way it does in math books - it looks the way you have trained yourself programming to use it. Visual cues aren't distracting if done right, and I said that absolute replication of physical is not always the way to go. My objection is that a blank slate is probably not a good idea since it provides no help.
- byrneseyeview 17y agoRight. Once you're used to the format, it's really easy to image how other functions will behave.