Slashdot Mirror
Seeking a Simple Programmer's Calculator?
"The CM-100 was solar powered, it was cheap at the time - maybe 20 bucks, and most importantly, it's simple. It does what I want (mostly hex/bin/oct/dec conversions and the occasional shift or rotate) it doesn't do what I don't want (scientific calculations and trig). It makes good assumptions about operator precedence - it does the right thing if you type 1+2*3, but you can also use parens if you choose. It doesn't try to be clever with the display (such as displaying the input in a tiny font on a different line) or pack in a whole lot of extra functionality I don't need.
Every calculator I have bought since the early 90s has been much, much worse, primarily because they are trying to be too general purpose. They pack too much functionality in, they have sucky interfaces, they add the hex conversion as an afterthought and make me use a shift key to get to it. They don't put A,B,C,D,E,F on separate buttons as they should be and so on.
Last month on a business-trip I had my briefcase stolen. It contained my passport and some other important documents. But I went crazy thinking that I had lost my calculator. When I returned from the trip, I found I had absent-mindedly left it buried on my desk and was hugely relieved. The passport is replaceable, but the calculator may not be. If I had lost the calculator, I probably would have been prepared to pay $400 to replace it, but probably wouldn't have been able to find one. According to e-Bay, no one has ever sold one there.
Nonetheless, the time will come when I will lose my trusty little calculator for good. Then I'll have to replace it. Plus, I'd like another calculator to keep at home."
"I'd like an eject button, too :)"
OK, I'll concede. That might be useful. But if all you watch is "I Love Lucy" reruns, who needs it?
My point was that technology has made it possible to design a gadget that does too many things, and make that gadget cheaper than its weight in salt.
When was the last time you saw a phone that would let you dial a number? I mean just dial a number, without redial, memory, flash, hold, speakerphone, caller ID, flashing lights or any of that peripheral junk? When was the last time you actually heard a telephone RING? With an actual brass bell that went "ding-a-ling-a-ling?"
I think that as technology progresses, people will yearn to have a few simple things: coffee makers that require you to turn them on when you want to make coffee, ovens that you have to crank a knob to turn it on (I still haven't figured out the stupid electronic panel on mine, and I'm a computer tech!), a thermostat on the wall you can turn (literally, turn) up when you're too cold and down when you're too warm.
A story on today's Slashdot discusses the art of human interaction on the telephone (dump the "Press 7 if you have a rotary phone"...). The gist of it is that companies are discovering that people don't want to deal with a computer for simple problems. This stems from the desire of humans wanting to have control over their environment. Electronic gizmos and gadgets are slowly wresting this direct control. We become nervous, worrying, wondering whether or not the timer will actually turn on the VCR to record Friends while we're out with our friends.
Conspiracists could theorize that technology is slowly weaning us away from having tight, tactile control over our environment, with the eventuality of some entity creeping in the back door and taking over without us even noticing. Yes, that's right, the EPA will set your thermostat, the MPAA will run your VCR, Starbucks will brew your coffee, and Martha Stewart will bake your cakes.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.