The death of calculator market?

[KaLi]

A calculator is a tool -- and for some, like us, it's a beloved toy as well. ;-)

99.99% of people/students/pupils would be perfectly served with the simplest Casio calculator. The don't need graphing... RPN... 3d visualization... CAS... etc.

The problem with all tools is: You have to learn to use it correctly. And -- IMHO more important -- you have to learn when to use it: Sometimes you should do your math with a pencil (because of thought-processes regarding the problem solving), sometimes it would be a good idea to use a slide-rule-calculator (because of visualization of precision) and sometimes Excel beats the best calculator anyways.

But as a tool my opinion is: The specialized single-function-tool always beats the multitool. And a real calculator beats a tablet, simple because of the physical buttons... and buttons are related to ease-of-use and speed. I have so many math apps on my iPad -- I can't count them. But after all, on the tablet I use a very simple calculator app... and do everything else with a real calculator (or if necessary Excel, or Matlab, or Python).

As for Germany (written as a physicist with children): I have learned, that our schooling system (today) doesn't teach the pupils how and when to use a calculator as a useful tool. If no one can handle a tool it will fall out of favor... and I would guess, that calculators will die out. The HP Prime may be the last real-button Calculator... because it's already poisoned with too much zeitgeist-touchiness.