TI-84 Plus Released

clear issue writes "The TI-84 Plus has now been shipped, and is avalible through a few distributors. (Try froogle) Besides the new stylish interface, when compared to the 83+, the 84+ has a number of technical advancements including a 2.5 times faster processor speed. To see how this new device compares to your current calculator, check out ti's comparison pdf chart. TI has even dedicated an entire web site for the promotion of the 84 Plus."

Comments

Graphics

[mfh]

If you want to have a real chuckle, check out the Custom Graphics section. I was a TI 99/4A die-hard, and I couldn't help but remember my old system, and coding graphics from 99er Magazine, in all its glory, upon setting eyes on those custom graphics. I must have one of those calculators.

Does this come with the training video?

[Gizzmonic]

I remember the awesome training video that came with the TI-82. This weird guy with a pocket protector standing behind a bluescreen which projected a giant image of the TI-82 in the background. Then it would show extreme closeups of his hands hitting the buttons...pure calculator pornography!

There was also a great showdown comparing the TI-82 to Casio and HP competitors (TI won of course). It was funny because you could tell the calculator dork really liked the HP best, but had to put on a good face because it was a TI video, at least I think it was...does anyone else remember that? God, I have no idea what I'm talking about...

Convince your parents!!!

[jrockway]

I liked the "convince your parents" section. I'm not really sure that being dependent on a calculator is such a good idea.

I see things like "14/2", "sin(0)", Integral(1/x,x), etc. in people's histories all the time. Those are the things that you should know how to do; the calculator is making you lazy. Now for things like 239874/12398 calculators are nice, but I'm not sure it's worth $130 to a high school student for something that a 30 dollar scientific calculator can do fine. Graphs are nice, though.

Going of on a tangent (heh), I rather dislike TI (I found a bug that kills your memory and TI refuses to fix it), so go with an HP48/49 if you need graphs. TI is for students that "want to do well on tests", HP is for people who do mathematics on a regular basis, IMO. That said, my TI89 is pretty useful.

Re:Convince your parents!!!

[joshki]

because you need to understand the fundamental concepts behind them. Amount of work isn't the issue -- if you don't know what the sin of 0 is, you don't understand the sin function. Too much math is taught by saying "just punch it in the calculator", and then the student thinks sin is a magical function that throws out these numbers for no reason.
Students in high school should never be allowed to use calculators at all -- let alone graphing calculators. They're a crutch that makes it even harder for them when they make it to college, or even the real world.
Using a calculator to do problems in the real world is fine -- but calculators have no place in a learning environment.

"Bar of Soap" design ...

[torpor]

... ew, is it just me, or does the new 'bar of soap' design really stink!

"Bar of Soap" is a design methodology that inherently is supposed to deteriorate, collect dust, and give the device an 'outdated feel and look' within 6 months time. On OOBE, it is supposed to feel like a bar of soap, give the user an intimacy like only a bar of soap can give you, and inspire that 'oooh, intimate toy' feeling. And then 6 months later, when it starts to get 'dirty', gives the user a desire to 'replace it with something new' ...

The old, rugged case, even with years of grime and dirt, still didn't give you the 'replacement' feeling. BoS is a dirty consumer electronics design trick, and it sucks to see the TI's going that direction ...

Great, more calculator dependence

[frostgiant]

Just look at the apps that come built-in on this thing:
Cabri Jr. - now students can use their calculator to get all the answers in Geometry!
"Alter geometric objects on the fly to see patterns, make conjectures, and draw conclusions" No longer will students need to learn how to prove things, they can just draw two triangles and say "my calculator says so".

Probability Simulation - "Explore probability theory with interactive animation that simulates the rolling of dice, tossing of coins and generating random numbers on your handheld."

Come on, this is NOT necessary. Every TI I have seen has nCr and nPr function built in. Why not teach the students HOW those work rather than using this shortcut method?

When I was in high school, most of my teachers were really good about not allowing the use of calculators on quizzes or tests. There were a few in the school, however, that gave "use your calculator" as a solution to hard problems. Calculators like this will only add more to this growing problem.

Re:Great, more calculator dependence

[Carmody]

One says you should be able to do everything by hand (as every good mathematician should) and the calculator is simply a guide for some of the tougher problems.

Really? I know some astounding mathematicians who are not able to do square-root extraction by hand. They forgot the algorithim to compute sqrt(11) to ten decimal places. (It is similar to the long-division algorithm, and used to be taught to every student)

And, technically, you should not be adding or multiplying numbers unless you can derive the concept of "number" from the five Peano axioms using set theory. Yet I know some lazy mathematicians who never took enough set theory to do this "by hand." Yet they get by.

Calculators are not like cliff notes. Mathematics is not all about the arithmetic. Calculators are more like word-processors, that allow us to formulate our thoughts on books without having to stop every five minutes to sharpen our nibs, grind our own ink, and change blotters.

Physics Class

[Dan667]

In college I remember taking the final and 10 guys spent all of 10 minutes taking it. They had programmed their calculators with every possible question (from the homework) and all made 100%. I spent 3 1/2 hours taking the test because the test was so hard no one else was done in 3 hours so they gave us more time.

I still hate those guys, but I am not bitter ...

Re:Need to Convince Mom and Dad?

[Detritus]

They've been doing that since the 1950s, for toys and other products marketed to children.

What I like are their sections on how to write "requests for bids", so that only a particular TI calculator meets the specifications. At least in the federal government, you are not supposed to do that, or admit to doing it.