Multiplication Poll: * or · or something else?

[Tim Wessman]

(03-08-2014 10:06 PM)veeblefester Wrote:  Why ask us the question if you are not going to do it right?

There is an interesting phenomenon in that many people interpret "right" to mean "what I think it should be" and anything else equates with "wrong".

I was explaining the reasoning and concerns between exposing every tiny little option for customization. It *does* create huge problems for a large number of potential users and also takes time - usually much more time then most people would thing- in order to do each "little thing". The 50g, while it may be ideal for the type of user that hangs out on a calculator forum *for fun*, has been generally criticized for being just to darn complicated for the majority of potential customers to use. How many posts on the 50g start with "well you just have set flags X,Y,Z, delete variable ABC and then press [long sequence].

Anyone who is even being remotely honest will admit that the 50g is not easy to learn for the majority of potential users, and things can go wrong frequently that even advanced users take time to understand and resolve.


I suspect that there are many people that have not thought through all the potential impacts of changing something like this. It is simply a change of character so the asterisk renders like a dot? Does the character change to a different character? Do you have two multiplication commands that display differently? Is it exclusively in 2d display or also elsewhere? Does it impact testing or documentation? How about places like france that will sometimes use a period to indicate multiplication? etc.

Asking the question can prove helpful. It helps so one can see and possibly glimpse what this specific cross section of individuals might think. That, when combined with other investigation, can prove helpful in determining what to work on, priority in which to do it, and possible changes that might be desired.

Asking the question does not signify that any change will happen, that a change has already happened, or that a change will never happen. It is simply a way to try to understand.