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I certainly got a lot of educational value out of mine. I managed to program a fully functional Minesweeper game on mine, using the built-in programming tools -

I certainly got a lot of educational value out of mine. I managed to program a fully functional Minesweeper game on mine, using the built-in programming tools - no transferring efficient binaries via cable! But yes. 99% of what we did with them in class - when we were even allowed to use them - could have been handled by a little solar-powered calculator with basic arithmetic functions.

joebates 6mo ago
Programming mine in high school is how I ended up coding for the first time and led to my current career. Honestly a pretty good investment (from my parents) I'd say.
- w0m 6mo ago
  same. My first real exposure to coding was hacking Drug Wars on my brothers old ti-89 in math class.
- mrguyorama 6mo ago
  Same. I bounced off a python 2 tutorial and a C tutorial, but some random nobody's TI-BASIC tutorial that started really damn easy is how I became a Computer Scientist. I eventually figured out python too! I made my own game and got a little notoriety around the school for it.
- beeandapenguin 6mo ago
  Same for me, it was also my first time ever seeing code, and I still remember it well. While getting ready for swim practice in a locker room, my friend challenged me to beat his score on a button mashing game he programmed earlier that day in school on his TI-84. My 12 year old self was in awe of his BASIC skills.
  - jrumbut 6mo ago
    It wasn't the first time I programmed but it was first time I encountered problem solving with code. I'm not one those (very admirable) people who build just to build, who make their own version of frogger or something. I need a problem to solve. But making a program that would take the parameters of a physics problem and spit out all the other quantities or that formatted output the way my stats teacher wanted it was a huge timesaver and that motivated me.
- repeekad 6mo ago
  This new one has python, imagine
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
hrunt 6mo ago
In my school, I was part of a group of students who hand-programmed games on TI-81 or TI-82 calculators using TI-BASIC. No cable transfers. Games included: Hangman, Missile Command, Minesweeper, and R-Type. Looking back, it was really amazingly impressive. Both what those calculators could do and how much free time we had to make them do it.
- mordechai9000 6mo ago
  I programmed a Mandelbrot generator on my TI-81 (if I remember the model correctly) when I should have been paying attention in class. Entering the code was slow and painful - fortunately the algorithm is fairly simple. The batteries lasted forever, until one day I set the bailout to a ridiculously high value, given the limited resolution, and walked away.
hoistbypetard 6mo ago
We made multi-player games over the link cables in the early 1990s. We certainly learned a ton from building those. It's not clear how much the calculators added to the math and chemistry classes where we were supposed to use them.
charcircuit 6mo ago
You could get that same educational value from programming things on a smartphone.
- kstrauser 6mo ago
  What's your favorite free programming environment for commonly used smartphones?
  - charcircuit 6mo ago
    I don't have a favorite. I do not feel like anyone that I am aware of has made proper investment to make a quality development app for mobile due to the low market demand. While development is better than on a calculator I think they are below my expectations.
  - ninjagoo 6mo ago
    > What's your favorite free programming environment for commonly used smartphones? Termux pkg install python python print('hello') ctrl+D Haven't tried these, but have seen them recommended: Acode Termux + neovim Termux + code-server (vscode-like, accessed through phone browser at localhost)
  - squeaky-clean 6mo ago
    I like Codea for iOS, though the free version has a soft-limit at 500 lines. If a project gets bigger than 500 lines you can still run code but it'll nag you to upgrade.
- prab97 6mo ago
  Current smartphones are highly optimized for content consumption a.k.a doom scrolling. Nothing serious exists for programming. On top of that, a touch keyboard and hard to reach special characters make programming on a modern smartphone a big chore. I miss the old days of smartphones that had a hardware keyboard with tactile feedback. I used to code up and maintain a PHP based dynamic website circa 2007 with a Sony Ericsson K770i and upload through a J2ME based FTP client that also had the text editor in it. If I remember it correctly it was called MobyExplorer
enneff 6mo ago
It’s not that the calculator was more than what students need, it’s that even for what it was the TI83/84 was way overpriced. It could have been like $20 at the scale they were produced.
iuffxguy 6mo ago
Same! Ticalc.org was my original GitHub haha
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

joebates 6mo ago

Programming mine in high school is how I ended up coding for the first time and led to my current career. Honestly a pretty good investment (from my parents) I'd say.

w0m 6mo ago
same. My first real exposure to coding was hacking Drug Wars on my brothers old ti-89 in math class.
mrguyorama 6mo ago
Same. I bounced off a python 2 tutorial and a C tutorial, but some random nobody's TI-BASIC tutorial that started really damn easy is how I became a Computer Scientist. I eventually figured out python too! I made my own game and got a little notoriety around the school for it.
beeandapenguin 6mo ago
Same for me, it was also my first time ever seeing code, and I still remember it well. While getting ready for swim practice in a locker room, my friend challenged me to beat his score on a button mashing game he programmed earlier that day in school on his TI-84. My 12 year old self was in awe of his BASIC skills.
- jrumbut 6mo ago
  It wasn't the first time I programmed but it was first time I encountered problem solving with code. I'm not one those (very admirable) people who build just to build, who make their own version of frogger or something. I need a problem to solve. But making a program that would take the parameters of a physics problem and spit out all the other quantities or that formatted output the way my stats teacher wanted it was a huge timesaver and that motivated me.
repeekad 6mo ago
This new one has python, imagine
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

hrunt 6mo ago

In my school, I was part of a group of students who hand-programmed games on TI-81 or TI-82 calculators using TI-BASIC. No cable transfers. Games included: Hangman, Missile Command, Minesweeper, and R-Type. Looking back, it was really amazingly impressive. Both what those calculators could do and how much free time we had to make them do it.

mordechai9000 6mo ago
I programmed a Mandelbrot generator on my TI-81 (if I remember the model correctly) when I should have been paying attention in class. Entering the code was slow and painful - fortunately the algorithm is fairly simple. The batteries lasted forever, until one day I set the bailout to a ridiculously high value, given the limited resolution, and walked away.

hoistbypetard 6mo ago

We made multi-player games over the link cables in the early 1990s. We certainly learned a ton from building those. It's not clear how much the calculators added to the math and chemistry classes where we were supposed to use them.

charcircuit 6mo ago

You could get that same educational value from programming things on a smartphone.

kstrauser 6mo ago
What's your favorite free programming environment for commonly used smartphones?
- charcircuit 6mo ago
  I don't have a favorite. I do not feel like anyone that I am aware of has made proper investment to make a quality development app for mobile due to the low market demand. While development is better than on a calculator I think they are below my expectations.
- ninjagoo 6mo ago
  > What's your favorite free programming environment for commonly used smartphones? Termux pkg install python python print('hello') ctrl+D Haven't tried these, but have seen them recommended: Acode Termux + neovim Termux + code-server (vscode-like, accessed through phone browser at localhost)
- squeaky-clean 6mo ago
  I like Codea for iOS, though the free version has a soft-limit at 500 lines. If a project gets bigger than 500 lines you can still run code but it'll nag you to upgrade.
prab97 6mo ago
Current smartphones are highly optimized for content consumption a.k.a doom scrolling. Nothing serious exists for programming. On top of that, a touch keyboard and hard to reach special characters make programming on a modern smartphone a big chore. I miss the old days of smartphones that had a hardware keyboard with tactile feedback. I used to code up and maintain a PHP based dynamic website circa 2007 with a Sony Ericsson K770i and upload through a J2ME based FTP client that also had the text editor in it. If I remember it correctly it was called MobyExplorer

enneff 6mo ago

It’s not that the calculator was more than what students need, it’s that even for what it was the TI83/84 was way overpriced. It could have been like $20 at the scale they were produced.

iuffxguy 6mo ago

Same! Ticalc.org was my original GitHub haha

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]