23 ms·

A loading screen and telemetry? For a fucking calculator? What happened to software...

thebruce87m 6y ago
At least it’s not a subscription model for £6.99/month like almost all of the apps you find on the app stores that used to be either free or a one-time £X.
- koolba 6y ago
  You get the addition and subtraction for free, but you have to upgrade via in app purchase for multiplication or division. It makes sense because those are advanced features the average user wouldn’t need anyway.
  - laurent92 6y ago
    Yes, and if the average user really needs it from time to time, they can use + several times.
  - edgyquant 6y ago
    Besides you can multiply for free, just add N number of times. Multiplication is a quality of life improvement, not a necessity
- tomaskafka 6y ago
  I see that you tried to look for a calculator app for iPad (no, there is still no built-in one).
  - gfxgirl 6y ago
    That's because you're supposed to pull out your iPhone to use as a calculator.
  - egypturnash 6y ago
    Calcbot does a pretty good job of Not Sucking. I think it's a couple bucks, I don't know, I paid for it ages ago.
  - wlesieutre 6y ago
    Did you find PCalc?
  - abhinav22 6y ago
    Try this: https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517
- carrja99 6y ago
  I still cannot get over that. A calculator with ads.
- 8note 6y ago
  I defs paid for the ti-calc emulator, but that gets me my ti-89 experience, and the emulator didnt cost me 200 bucks
cblconfederate 6y ago
Sqrt() is a subscription service if you want more than 2 decimal points
- chihuahua 6y ago
  There are now cars where the heated seats are a subscription service. https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2020/07/bmw-wants-to-turn-your-heated-seats-into-a-subscription-service.html https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2020/07/bmw-wants-to-tur...
  - ancarda 6y ago
    i don't want to live on this planet anymore.gif
  - 8note 6y ago
    That gives me the feeling there's good business in modifying BMWs to connect the heated seats wires to a physical switch with a light on it
    - anoncake 6y ago
      That's piracy. You wouldn't download a car [seat]!
  - ddingus 6y ago
    I would say, "unbelievable!", but sadly, yeah this garbage is only going to grow like a cancer. So, no. Not for me.
  - cblconfederate 6y ago
    They give the seats for free, they must monetize them somehow, understandable
- nullsense 6y ago
  Need more than 5 decimal points? Contact us for pricing.
- 6y ago
krapp 6y ago
folders in Windows have loading bars now. Folders with nothing but text files in them. It's insane.
- dfox 6y ago
  Explorer UI is capable of showing loading animation for folder contents since it was first publicly released. It makes sense not only in context of potentially slow devices, but also because "Folder" is not an "Directory" but an somewhat arbitrary COM object and thus showing contents of folder can lead to a lot of potentially slow operations. IIRC somewhere along the line of all the Win32 windows versions the loading animation got somewhat broken and explorer window was more likely to get simply unresponsive instead of displaying loading animation, but that is another story.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- jasdine817 6y ago
  Folders in Windows can be network locations or internet locations without any guarantees on their access speed, makes sense to show to the user that it's still doing something.
- p_l 6y ago
  A big part of that loading bar, outside of network ops and slow drives (and remember, today you don't have floppy drive noise to know if it works or got hung), is for things like sorting and getting file icons and other attributes right. This can take non-trivial amount of time.
Nextgrid 6y ago
But what about growth and engagement? I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot's performance metrics are tied to how many people "engage" with the calculator.
- benttoothpaste 6y ago
  Next step: contextual ads. “Looks like you are trying to calculate your taxes. Click here for $10 off of Turbo Tax!”
gogopuppygogo 6y ago
They stopped charging for it. At least for the upgrade when it launched. The user became the product. Windows collects user behavior and sells ads. You can still buy whatever they call Windows LTSB this week if you hate this.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  Buying LTSB is extremely difficult and annoying. It's not just a matter of entering card details and getting back a product key + ISO.

At least it’s not a subscription model for £6.99/month like almost all of the apps you find on the app stores that used to be either free or a one-time £X.

koolba 6y ago
You get the addition and subtraction for free, but you have to upgrade via in app purchase for multiplication or division. It makes sense because those are advanced features the average user wouldn’t need anyway.
- laurent92 6y ago
  Yes, and if the average user really needs it from time to time, they can use + several times.
- edgyquant 6y ago
  Besides you can multiply for free, just add N number of times. Multiplication is a quality of life improvement, not a necessity
tomaskafka 6y ago
I see that you tried to look for a calculator app for iPad (no, there is still no built-in one).
- gfxgirl 6y ago
  That's because you're supposed to pull out your iPhone to use as a calculator.
- egypturnash 6y ago
  Calcbot does a pretty good job of Not Sucking. I think it's a couple bucks, I don't know, I paid for it ages ago.
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  Did you find PCalc?
- abhinav22 6y ago
  Try this: https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517 https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/rpn-30/id1451413517
carrja99 6y ago
I still cannot get over that. A calculator with ads.
8note 6y ago
I defs paid for the ti-calc emulator, but that gets me my ti-89 experience, and the emulator didnt cost me 200 bucks

cblconfederate 6y ago

Sqrt() is a subscription service if you want more than 2 decimal points

chihuahua 6y ago
There are now cars where the heated seats are a subscription service. https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2020/07/bmw-wants-to-turn-your-heated-seats-into-a-subscription-service.html https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2020/07/bmw-wants-to-tur...
- ancarda 6y ago
  i don't want to live on this planet anymore.gif
- 8note 6y ago
  That gives me the feeling there's good business in modifying BMWs to connect the heated seats wires to a physical switch with a light on it
  - anoncake 6y ago
    That's piracy. You wouldn't download a car [seat]!
- ddingus 6y ago
  I would say, "unbelievable!", but sadly, yeah this garbage is only going to grow like a cancer. So, no. Not for me.
- cblconfederate 6y ago
  They give the seats for free, they must monetize them somehow, understandable
nullsense 6y ago
Need more than 5 decimal points? Contact us for pricing.
6y ago

krapp 6y ago

folders in Windows have loading bars now. Folders with nothing but text files in them. It's insane.

dfox 6y ago
Explorer UI is capable of showing loading animation for folder contents since it was first publicly released. It makes sense not only in context of potentially slow devices, but also because "Folder" is not an "Directory" but an somewhat arbitrary COM object and thus showing contents of folder can lead to a lot of potentially slow operations. IIRC somewhere along the line of all the Win32 windows versions the loading animation got somewhat broken and explorer window was more likely to get simply unresponsive instead of displaying loading animation, but that is another story.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jasdine817 6y ago
Folders in Windows can be network locations or internet locations without any guarantees on their access speed, makes sense to show to the user that it's still doing something.
p_l 6y ago
A big part of that loading bar, outside of network ops and slow drives (and remember, today you don't have floppy drive noise to know if it works or got hung), is for things like sorting and getting file icons and other attributes right. This can take non-trivial amount of time.

Nextgrid 6y ago

But what about growth and engagement? I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot's performance metrics are tied to how many people "engage" with the calculator.

benttoothpaste 6y ago
Next step: contextual ads. “Looks like you are trying to calculate your taxes. Click here for $10 off of Turbo Tax!”

gogopuppygogo 6y ago

They stopped charging for it. At least for the upgrade when it launched. The user became the product. Windows collects user behavior and sells ads. You can still buy whatever they call Windows LTSB this week if you hate this.

Nextgrid 6y ago
Buying LTSB is extremely difficult and annoying. It's not just a matter of entering card details and getting back a product key + ISO.