Adjutant Stormy, on 20 July 2011 - 10:18 PM, said:
Lol, the saddest thing is that while your shiny new graphing calculator is awesome, most of our phones are better. More memory, more cpu, etc. The only reason I'd keep my calculator, were a decent graphing calculator program available, is that you aren't allowed a phone during exams.
Gwynn ap Nudd, on 21 July 2011 - 12:51 AM, said:
The important part is the RPN. I haven't found anything for my phone that will do RPN.
I still use my HP48G from university and have a spare on hand for when it breaks down (had to buy second one when my pack was stolen, but it was later recovered).
Exactly. RPN. The most efficient and human-error-proof way to do complicated arithmetic. And the calculator has these cool innovative things all over it called "
buttons" so you don't need to paste your greasy fingers all over the touchscreen in order to input data while furiously tapping backspace every time the touch sensor thinks you hit an 8 instead of a 5.
AND the fact that it does a lot more than "graph things". In fact, I've never used the graphing functions on any graphing calculator I've ever owned. It does spreadsheets, matrix math, solves differential equations, performs numerical analyses, and all kinds of other useful engineering functions...Not saying programs for phones can't do those things, but I defy a touchscreen smartphone to have a human interface as capable and fluid as the button layout on an HP calculator. If I needed raw processing power, a computer is much more capable than a smartphone and I guarantee I can program a quick number-chugging program in C++ for my PC faster than I can develop an app to do the same thing on my phone.
AND the calculator didn't cost me 500-600 bucks, AND it didn't require a that I enter a 3 year contract with a phone company to get a cheaper price, AND I don't have to pay a monthly fee for access to a network, AND it runs for about 2 months with regular use on a set of 4 AAA batteries.
Don't feed me that "smartphones can do everything your calculator can do" BS. It simply ain't true!
GRAAAAH! NERRDDDD RAAAGE!
EDITED for more RAAAAGE
This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 21 July 2011 - 11:47 AM