3 ms·

1996, or what happened with TI calculators

6 points by billswift 16y ago

troygoode 16y ago
I recently, on a lark, looked up graphing calculators on Amazon to see what the state-of-the-art was (I was super into my TI-83 in high school). Wow, color me dissapointed... At least there is one with a "touchpad" now: http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Ti-nspire-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B003FVGERY http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Ti-nspire-Graphing-C... (No referral code.) I wonder if smartphones are/will replace dedicated graphing calculators? Any current students or teachers/profs/TAs that have an insight on the matter?
- mooism2 16y ago
  I can't see people being allowed to use a smartphone during an exam --- how can the invigilator know they are using the approved calculator app and not asking the internet for help?
  - daychilde 16y ago
    Apparently, there are calc apps you can easily get that will store text. Apparently, a number of my classmates used this ability for tests - storing various information and formulas we were required to memorize. I'm not tooting my own horn in saying I didn't participate - I'm no noble man, but one thing I will not do is cheat in college. I was, however, very disappointed to learn that apparently such cheating is rampant.
    - jff 16y ago
      You certainly don't need any special app. The TI program editor makes it extremely easy to store your notes as programs. HP calculators are a little more annoying for editing, but it's still easy to store text in a string variable. I did it on occasion, because sometimes there's such a ridiculous number of complex formulae that I'd rather spend my time practicing their use rather than memorizing them. The students who bank their whole grade on the notes in the calculator... typically can't pass anyway, because they don't know how to use the formulae.
- Rhapso 16y ago
  The limits of such calculators are part of thier appeal from an education standpoint, smart-phone allow too much opportunity to cheat. Plus all the classes where such things are needed (trig, calc, ect) you are not normally allowed any calculation aid. TI calculators exist to cater to high-schools and engineers. Engineers are finding better tools but highschools like them a lot. They are advanced enough to teach the math, and if they go around clearing all the memories before each test then it is hard to cheat with. I have fond memories of my TI-83, so many problems solved by brute force code written during the test.
jff 16y ago
I love my HP-50G calculator, although I think they could improve the screen a bit... I'd appreciate higher resolution, faster refresh, maybe color. However, having completed all the math and science courses for my degree, I'm not using the HP much any more. Usually it's more convenient to fire up "bc" instead of hunting up the calculator, despite the limitations of bc. Oh, and I just can't see smartphones replacing graphing calculators. I like a calculator because it has all those buttons conveniently placed--for most things, I don't have to go through any menus. You simply can't fit all that on the screen of a smartphone and still be able to press the buttons on-screen. I ran an HP-48 emulator on a Droid, and while it was good, it was certainly no replacement for the real thing
billswift 16y ago
I think part of the point is that the price didn't go down like all the other stuff they were looking at in the old Computer Shopper ads.

6 points by billswift 16y ago

I recently, on a lark, looked up graphing calculators on Amazon to see what the state-of-the-art was (I was super into my TI-83 in high school). Wow, color me dissapointed... At least there is one with a "touchpad" now: http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Ti-nspire-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B003FVGERY http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Ti-nspire-Graphing-C... (No referral code.) I wonder if smartphones are/will replace dedicated graphing calculators? Any current students or teachers/profs/TAs that have an insight on the matter?

mooism2 16y ago
I can't see people being allowed to use a smartphone during an exam --- how can the invigilator know they are using the approved calculator app and not asking the internet for help?
- daychilde 16y ago
  Apparently, there are calc apps you can easily get that will store text. Apparently, a number of my classmates used this ability for tests - storing various information and formulas we were required to memorize. I'm not tooting my own horn in saying I didn't participate - I'm no noble man, but one thing I will not do is cheat in college. I was, however, very disappointed to learn that apparently such cheating is rampant.
  - jff 16y ago
    You certainly don't need any special app. The TI program editor makes it extremely easy to store your notes as programs. HP calculators are a little more annoying for editing, but it's still easy to store text in a string variable. I did it on occasion, because sometimes there's such a ridiculous number of complex formulae that I'd rather spend my time practicing their use rather than memorizing them. The students who bank their whole grade on the notes in the calculator... typically can't pass anyway, because they don't know how to use the formulae.
Rhapso 16y ago
The limits of such calculators are part of thier appeal from an education standpoint, smart-phone allow too much opportunity to cheat. Plus all the classes where such things are needed (trig, calc, ect) you are not normally allowed any calculation aid. TI calculators exist to cater to high-schools and engineers. Engineers are finding better tools but highschools like them a lot. They are advanced enough to teach the math, and if they go around clearing all the memories before each test then it is hard to cheat with. I have fond memories of my TI-83, so many problems solved by brute force code written during the test.

jff 16y ago

I love my HP-50G calculator, although I think they could improve the screen a bit... I'd appreciate higher resolution, faster refresh, maybe color. However, having completed all the math and science courses for my degree, I'm not using the HP much any more. Usually it's more convenient to fire up "bc" instead of hunting up the calculator, despite the limitations of bc. Oh, and I just can't see smartphones replacing graphing calculators. I like a calculator because it has all those buttons conveniently placed--for most things, I don't have to go through any menus. You simply can't fit all that on the screen of a smartphone and still be able to press the buttons on-screen. I ran an HP-48 emulator on a Droid, and while it was good, it was certainly no replacement for the real thing

billswift 16y ago

I think part of the point is that the price didn't go down like all the other stuff they were looking at in the old Computer Shopper ads.