(08-09-2017 04:31 PM)Luigi Vampa Wrote:  Poor boy, that WIRED's author has all my sympathy. It is clear he didn't enjoy programming his HP-11C, and he got traumatized.
Maybe other colleagues of him had better calcs and didn't suffer the lack of solver, integration, complex # support, matrix maths, etc. All this had a clear impact on him as a student, so that it is more than understandable he now has masterminded a plan to wipe all calcs out of the earth's surface ASAP >D

(08-09-2017 03:40 PM)Accutron Wrote:  You need a simplex model with beveled in/cm rules on the base - K&E 4053, Dietzgen Mannheim, etc.

(08-09-2017 12:37 PM)Logan Wrote:  And like someone else mentioned, it's the step I use to verify my programs are working and that I've gotten all my parentheses closed properly

(08-09-2017 10:31 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  In full agreement here. Sorry, but these new generations of kids, semi-adults, 20-, 30- something adults have absolutely NO understanding, NO experience, NO appreciation for anything older than an iDevice or Galaxy thingamabob! They've NEVER faced the challenge of developing an AOS or RPN or RPL 100/224 step or 448 byte 15C program that included DSE/DSZ, ISG/ISZ looping, conditional tests & the 'do if true rule.' These kids have no concept of subroutines and return registers.

Sorry, but if kids are going to use a calculator, learn & understand all branches of mathematics, it would better with a keystroke programmable one in the realm of the calculators we grew up with.

(08-09-2017 11:02 AM)Paul Dale Wrote:  Not quite:

- cut -

(08-09-2017 12:38 PM)David Hayden Wrote:  And you don't want them to get distracted for an hour by some syntax error when they could be concentrating on physics.

(08-09-2017 04:57 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  The "reasons" why we all need to ditch our calculators are laughable:

(08-09-2017 04:57 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  On a side note:
The OP talks about accounting and Excel... those things don't mix! (not Excel's fault, actually, but binary floating point in general)
Real accounting requires decimal arithmetic, so Excel is out of the question for accounting, and so is python.
Before somebody jumps with "python can use decimal arithmetic". That's true, but look at a few examples of what python code looks like when using decimal. Hardly as clean as the article's example, and not very practical for quick prototyping and solving.
If you do accounting, a calculator using decimal math is a necessary tool. An application or web interface using decimal would do just fine if you don't make heavy use of it and can put up with the slower pace.

(08-09-2017 10:31 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Sorry, but these new generations of kids, semi-adults, 20-, 30- something adults have absolutely NO understanding, NO experience, NO appreciation for anything older than an iDevice or Galaxy thingamabob!

(08-10-2017 03:48 AM)Dan Wrote:  Agree absolutely. At my last school a teacher said at a staff meeting (in all seriousness) "I am tech-savvy, I have the latest iphone". The students have the same misconception. I have tried to teach them basic programming on their TI nSpires, but in the end had to just give them the programs.

(08-09-2017 02:30 PM)Namir Wrote:  Ironically for me, it is my (shared) love for calculators, this web site, attending HHC conferences (and mingling with very smart folks) that has pushed me more in the last 13 years to develop and improve root-seeking algorithms. Granted that I use Excel as the first tool to test new ideas and approaches. I then apply what seems to work on the HP-41CX calculator and/or its emulator to easily get a good feel of the speed for obtaining solutions.

Perhaps it is the Algorithm that is king. This king has a good alliance with programmable calculators.

Namir

(08-11-2017 12:18 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  There is also nothing like the real thing. There is just something to touching buttons than a flat screen.

(08-11-2017 12:12 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  Here's a reason why calculators shouldn't be ditched: Calculators don't need an internet connection or a browser to work. If you rely solely on the internet, and the internet goes out or Google goes out of business, then what?