WP 34S --> WP 31S

[walter b]

(02-13-2014 10:21 PM)Jonathan Cameron Wrote:  

(02-13-2014 09:28 PM)walter b Wrote:  According to the sorting order defined in the Index of Operations, Greek letters immediately follow after Latin Z on the WP 34S (and will do the same on the WP 31S). On the keyboard, the Latin letters are printed in capitals since everybody knows how the lower case letters look. The Greek letters we use on the WP 31S are alpha, gamma, Delta, epsilon, lambda, mu (my), Sigma & sigma, and Phi. There are five free locations on the keyboard. If we continue with capitals, Alpha, Epsilon, and Mu (My) would look identical to A, E, and M, respectively, so we should avoid these by printing only Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Sigma, and Phi. Or should we switch to lower case for Greek and print alpha, lambda, mu (my), sigma, and phi? Can we assume the target audience knowing γ corresponds to Γ, λ to Λ, σ to Σ, and φ to Φ?

I'm willing to be pragmatic about the greek letters and mix it up. Use lower-case ones where they match the catalogue names and use capitol Sigma for sigma. I think using all upper-case greek letters is confusing. However, capitol Sigman should be capitalized since that is the way it appears in the catalogues. However, I think going through the wp-31s catalogues carefully is good idea since some of the greek letters may not be needed -- and maybe some other special non-greek character would be helpful.

and

(02-14-2014 12:50 AM)Jonathan Cameron Wrote:  I also noticed that % and the degree symbol might be handy in some of the catalogues.

Hmmh, "willing to be pragmatic about the greek letters" is not sufficient - knowing the praxis (sic!) sufficiently would help. It is as I mentioned above: we need ... W, X, Y, Z, α, γ, Δ, ε, λ, µ, Σ + σ, and Φ. We also use ° (which is sorted as a superscript zero), %, -, ∞, and |. Now please look at pp. 85, 152f, and 155 of the printed manual, at your WP 34S, and at the pdf in this very thread here, read, think, and check:

1. ° is no problem at all for obvious reasons.
2. α appears only once in CONST. Knowing α comes after Z, α shouldn't be a problem either.
3. γ appears more than once in CONST. Should appear on the keyboard IMHO.
4. Δ appears only once in MORE. No problem.
5. ε appears only once in CONST. No problem.
6. λ and µ appear more than once in CONST.
7. Σ is employed frequently in STAT, and σ appears only once in CONST.
8. Φ appears more than once in CONST.
9. - and ∞ are used only once each in CONST. ∞ is the last character there, and - is the second last.
10. % and | are used only once each in MORE. | is the last character there, and % is the second last (the first after Z).
    

Now, instead of making lazy managerial statements, assess the situation¹ and compare the demands with the five keyboard locations available. Then please come up with a proper suggestion.

d:-I

¹ [rant]Feel free to also take into account the average level of education. Don't forget a Capitol stands in Wash. D.C., while a capital letter is something different. Oh, why can't the English ... (learn to spell 'Greek', for another example). [/rant]