Nice to see

[Matt Agajanian]

Hello all.

In this era where even Excel is an iOS/Android/Windows Mobile app, it is quite comforting and encouraging that calculators are still utilized by engineers, scientists, doctors, as well as other users.

[pier4r]

Well since 2010 I check the usability of smartphones (I missed the PDA era, but the interface was not much different) for computations. Aside for little operations, I would say that a calculator, either just scientific, or graphic/programmable is better for the job due to the interface.

For example on android one of the best native calculators that I found is handycalc. Now it is pretty ok, but the precision in typing the numbers, formulas and so on is dismal, at least for me. It is even worse with emulators that try to force a calculator layout (that normally it is like 6'') in screens that are 5.5'' or smaller. A smartphone is a monster of computation but it cannot handle the competition because a calculator has just a better interface and with a worse interface, there is little todo, the best product is unusable.

So, until I don't find an android calculator with a proper interface for the input (note: I'm already a disaster with switkey and other touchscreen keyboards, so it will be difficult), the calcualtors would be always preferred.

The second part, but this gap can be closed quickly, is that the mathematical libraries available on the calculators are difficult to find in native apps (no emulators) on android, symbian (nokia & co smartphones until 2012/2013). I do not know iOS.

That is different when one has a laptop, but when I write down something I do not really like to move my head up and down to look at a monitor. I prefer to have a surface on the same plane of my paper sheets, so a calculator or a tablet/smartphone but the latter fail to provide good input interfaces.