4 ms·

PCalc Prevents iPhone Calculator Profanity

37 points by mbrubeck 17y ago

ugh 17y ago
This is really great on several levels: it helps the app to stand out among all those other calculators and it is a subtle little criticism of Apple’s review process.
- brianobush 17y ago
  but is it worth being on the front page of HN? Maybe for reddit, but I come here looking for HN-specific topics.
  - ugh 17y ago
    PR hacking sure deserves to be on the front page of HN. Flag it if you don’t agree.
    - brianobush 17y ago
      If this is PR, it will be lost with the masses (for whom PR is meant for). This feature neither falls into the hacking nor PR camp. Easter egg, maybe. Useless feature, definitely.
      - ugh 17y ago
        PR is, first and formost, directed at journalists or anyone who can reach a wider public. And on that front it succeded. Massivly. Look here: http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dbuIfkkvjwgP4EMi21B1hOxAhjbkM http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all... And that doesn't include all the blogs that picked it up. Getting this much publicity with a non-feature (complete with a caricature of a press release) is impressive. Just one example: this is the first time tuaw.com writes about the iPhone version of Pcalc. It could have written about the app when it was released or when new versions came out. It did not. And it's not as though the developer didn't try: http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=172 http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=172 If you can't take the direct route, take the indirect one. And know what journalists value. Not the one-millionth calculator but childish easter eggs. Mission accomplished.
  - mbrubeck 17y ago
    Most of the stuff I post to the front page is quite dry and technical: http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=mbrubeck http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=mbrubeck But sometimes I just want to cheer on an entrepreneur who's done something clearly awesome.
- ojbyrne 17y ago
  Why would anyone pay for a calculator on the iphone when there's a perfectly good one already? I don't see any features there that aren't in the standard one.
  - kylec 17y ago
    The for-pay version is (optionally) an RPN calculator. And both the free and paid versions of PCalc have a backspace key - this alone was worth the switch for me.
durin42 17y ago
Site went down, but coral cache has it: http://www.dragthing.com.nyud.net/blog/?p=285 http://www.dragthing.com.nyud.net/blog/?p=285
anigbrowl 17y ago
Yes, but when will this be in PCalc for OS X?
- colonelxc 17y ago
  Maybe they'll release it for the laptops, which do have accelerometers in them. from a simple google search: http://chancechancellor.com/?p=337 http://chancechancellor.com/?p=337
devicenull 17y ago
This seems like a rather useless feature in my opinion... If you're easily offended, why do things that would offend yourself. The other "user group" is elementary school students, and how many of those have an iPhone they will be downloading calculators for?
- colonelxc 17y ago
  It's a joke, making fun of Apple's approval process.
pohl 17y ago
My dad, may he rest in peace, loved to order things from HeathKit, bust out the soldering iron, and go to town. One of the smaller projects was one of these: http://www.wass.net/manuals/jpg/Heathkit%20IC-2009.jpg http://www.wass.net/manuals/jpg/Heathkit%20IC-2009.jpg I was young, but I remember one day when a friend of the family came over, I caught them giggling. One of them must have been telling the other one an early version of this joke... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=55378008 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=55378008 ...because I recall clearly the result being 55378008. This is a great easter egg. I wonder if it recognizes this number too.

37 points by mbrubeck 17y ago

ugh 17y ago

This is really great on several levels: it helps the app to stand out among all those other calculators and it is a subtle little criticism of Apple’s review process.

brianobush 17y ago
but is it worth being on the front page of HN? Maybe for reddit, but I come here looking for HN-specific topics.
- ugh 17y ago
  PR hacking sure deserves to be on the front page of HN. Flag it if you don’t agree.
  - brianobush 17y ago
    If this is PR, it will be lost with the masses (for whom PR is meant for). This feature neither falls into the hacking nor PR camp. Easter egg, maybe. Useless feature, definitely.
    - ugh 17y ago
      PR is, first and formost, directed at journalists or anyone who can reach a wider public. And on that front it succeded. Massivly. Look here: http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dbuIfkkvjwgP4EMi21B1hOxAhjbkM http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all... And that doesn't include all the blogs that picked it up. Getting this much publicity with a non-feature (complete with a caricature of a press release) is impressive. Just one example: this is the first time tuaw.com writes about the iPhone version of Pcalc. It could have written about the app when it was released or when new versions came out. It did not. And it's not as though the developer didn't try: http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=172 http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=172 If you can't take the direct route, take the indirect one. And know what journalists value. Not the one-millionth calculator but childish easter eggs. Mission accomplished.
- mbrubeck 17y ago
  Most of the stuff I post to the front page is quite dry and technical: http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=mbrubeck http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=mbrubeck But sometimes I just want to cheer on an entrepreneur who's done something clearly awesome.
ojbyrne 17y ago
Why would anyone pay for a calculator on the iphone when there's a perfectly good one already? I don't see any features there that aren't in the standard one.
- kylec 17y ago
  The for-pay version is (optionally) an RPN calculator. And both the free and paid versions of PCalc have a backspace key - this alone was worth the switch for me.

durin42 17y ago

Site went down, but coral cache has it: http://www.dragthing.com.nyud.net/blog/?p=285 http://www.dragthing.com.nyud.net/blog/?p=285

anigbrowl 17y ago

Yes, but when will this be in PCalc for OS X?

colonelxc 17y ago
Maybe they'll release it for the laptops, which do have accelerometers in them. from a simple google search: http://chancechancellor.com/?p=337 http://chancechancellor.com/?p=337

devicenull 17y ago

This seems like a rather useless feature in my opinion... If you're easily offended, why do things that would offend yourself. The other "user group" is elementary school students, and how many of those have an iPhone they will be downloading calculators for?

colonelxc 17y ago
It's a joke, making fun of Apple's approval process.

pohl 17y ago

My dad, may he rest in peace, loved to order things from HeathKit, bust out the soldering iron, and go to town. One of the smaller projects was one of these: http://www.wass.net/manuals/jpg/Heathkit%20IC-2009.jpg http://www.wass.net/manuals/jpg/Heathkit%20IC-2009.jpg I was young, but I remember one day when a friend of the family came over, I caught them giggling. One of them must have been telling the other one an early version of this joke... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=55378008 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=55378008 ...because I recall clearly the result being 55378008. This is a great easter egg. I wonder if it recognizes this number too.