How will compete hp-prime with TI-Innovator project?

[Chasfield]

No sign of a UK price for these but a TI89 costs lap-top money over here.

The TI system as shown puts two "black boxes" between the student and the LEDs that are being power-cycled. I don't see how such hardware abstraction moves the learner any nearer to understanding the essence of a microprocessor system.

An old style Z80 based tutor board, with 2K RAM, hex display and keypad puts the student much closer to what is going on.

Such a basic device might not seem as cool as the TI set-up, nor would it excite teachers with poor technical knowledge when they attend Powerpoint-saturated educational conferences but when you need to learn something that is difficult then there is no alternative to sitting down and learning something difficult.