Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
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Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#2Approximately related, I find the NumWorks calculator [1] absolutely enthralling. It has a fairly beefy modern ARM Cortex M4 processor which runs an attractive GUI written in Python. And yes, you can write and run Python on the device. The hardware is very well described [2] in human terms and electrical schematics are available. Software is totally open source and the device can be easily reflashed. I'm not sure what I'd use it for, but I've had one on my birthday list for a while.
There's a web simulator [3] online if you want to play with the OS.
[2] https://hackaday.com/2018/05/18/open-source-calculator-teach... (full disclosure, I wrote this)
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#3So long as TI (and other) graphing calculators are the only approved calculators for the SAT and ACT tests, they will continue to sell. For students with college aspirations, purchasing one is mandatory.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#4TI calculators are the biggest technology racket in education. The fact alone that most schools won't allow the use of Casio equivalents deserves an anti-trust investigation. There are programs that even dictate which TI model is accepted.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#5This article suggests the basis for the price is a result of lobbying to make calculators manadatory for certain tests. This rings true to me - even TI's comparison page (https://education.ti.com/en/product-resources/graphing-cours...) has a section on test requirements but not on actual product features!
However the argument for why this might collapse seems to be that technological change - touchscreens, phones, tablets, apps etc - means that institutions will be more willing to break from TI's grip. I don't believe this is likely. From the point of view of those institutions, saving student's money isn't a high priority. They are more likely to care about how a single use-device makes cheating hard. Not to mention the fact that despite the article's love of convergence, physical calculators are genuinely much easier to use for calculating than a touch screen device.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#6Approximately related, I find the NumWorks calculator [1] absolutely enthralling. It has a fairly beefy modern ARM Cortex M4 processor which runs an attractive GUI written in Python. And yes, you can write and run Python on the device. The hardware is very well described [2] in human terms and electrical schematics are available. Software is totally open source and the device can be easily reflashed. I'm not sure wha…
It's nice but as far as I know it doesn't have a real CAS despite its processing power.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#7This can be summed up pretty easily. The TI graphing calculator has no internet access and no ability to store notes. Neither ability can be easily added.
As long as that is the case, they will win, because the test companies don't want to deal with people having internet access and notes.
Now if Apple/Android made a simple way for a test proctor to put your phone into a single app only that you couldn't easily break out of, maybe things will change.
But until then, they're going to require devices without internet and note taking.
Edit: Since everyone is replying "you can store notes!", yes, you can, but most test proctors know about the programs and make you clear your memory before a test.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#8Approximately related, I find the NumWorks calculator [1] absolutely enthralling. It has a fairly beefy modern ARM Cortex M4 processor which runs an attractive GUI written in Python. And yes, you can write and run Python on the device. The hardware is very well described [2] in human terms and electrical schematics are available. Software is totally open source and the device can be easily reflashed. I'm not sure wha…
It's a great project, but it isn't Open Source (and definitely isn't Free Software) due to the NonCommercial restriction on its license.
Creative Commons recommend against using their licenses, including NC-SA, for software -
https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-apply-a-creative-comm...
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#9Timely thing - I actually dusted off my TI-89 over the weekend doing taxes. There was something about a focused tool with a physical number that I was really desiring. I have fond memories of tapping around on it in high school.
Turns out it sucks, and I wound up just buying one of the $5 solar basic calculators and was way happier. I can't wait for this monopoly to get blown up.
Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?
#10TI calculators are the biggest technology racket in education. The fact alone that most schools won't allow the use of Casio equivalents deserves an anti-trust investigation. There are programs that even dictate which TI model is accepted.
When I was taking my AP finals, the school I'll attend them in gave me a list of models they will accept. My school does NOT have AP system, so I had to take it in a different school (which is the only school supports it in my country), thus I had 0 leverage. I didn't have one of the calculators they allow (some other Casio model), I called them and they told me I'll be rejected to take the exam. I had to buy another calculator just to take the final. Even though it's almost 100% same as the calculator I had. Miserable.