Absolute value: sometimes CAS is very clever, sometimes not!

[toml_12953]

(09-07-2018 12:23 AM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  The best way is to work directly with Dr Parisse to express interest and show the need for changes. His general philosophy (not without merit) is that doing "simple" stuff is not the scope of what a CAS should do and so focus should be spent on the more difficult/high end things.

If you can't trust the calculator's answers for simple stuff, how are you going to trust it for more difficult problems? Confidence in a calculator's answers (whether simple or complex) is crucial to the success of the calculator in the market.

If I hire a person to paint a picnic table and he does a lousy job, will I hire him to paint my whole house? Not likely! Even if the analogy doesn't hold up well, it's how most people think. To sell calculators to us non-mathematicians (who probably make up the bulk of potential buyers), you can't think like a mathematician!

Tom L