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.

How long?

[Panaflex]

How long before they relase the TI 99/4A?

Pan

Re:How long?

[Hal-9001]

Along with the TI-86, 92, and 95. I remember when the TI-92 was the "Amazing Calculator" only the rich kids could afford. Kind of weird they continue with the TI-8x line but not the 9x.

Probably because the TI-92 is banned from just about every standardized exam, while the TI-89, which has equivalent functionality in a different form factor, is not.

Ahem ...

[airrage]

With the TI-84 Plus, all students can now share their work by connecting their TI-84 Plus to any TI presentation tools for the whole class to see, fostering a collaborative learning environment.*

(*) Kids can now network to the smart kid in class and steal answers via infrared USB. No longer do you have to seat near the geek to get good grades!

Cool!

[Plugoor]

now i can play tetris 2.5 times faster!

Re:Backwards development?

[LBArrettAnderson]

Not at all. The different calculators are aimed at different groups and for different purposes.

The 92/+/v200 are aimed at engineers and other professions/things to do while the 83/+/84/+ are aimed at highschool students (mainly).

Re:Backwards development?

[donnyspi]

The TI-92 isn't allowed on SATs and some other tests because of the QWERTY keyboard. This one probably would be allowed by standardized tests and by teachers in school, so it's good that they're working to improve the TI-8x type calcs.

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.

Re:Convince your parents!!!

[joshki]

The point is, if you don't know why the sin of 0 is 0, then it doesn't matter whether you got the answer right or not. I can understand not wanting to do derivatives and integrals -- but if you don't want to learn how to do them, why bother doing them at all? Calculus isn't required for IT degrees, at least not where I study, and if it is required, it's because someone who's probably a whole lot smarter thinks there's a good reason for it.
I find calculus in many things outside a calculus classroom -- just because you don't use it in your job doesn't mean it's useless. Calculus is a way of thinking more than just a problem/solution kind of math -- learning how to do those derivatives and integrals teaches you how to think better than anything else I know of. And those engineers -- you may be right that they do them with computers and calculators all the time, but that doesn't mean they don't need to understand what the computer is doing to solve the problems. If you don't understand how to set up the problem correctly, the computer can't give you the right answer.

"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.

Re:calculators are dead

[Hal-9001]

Too bad HP can't see it.

If you're gonna cut-and-paste a comment from another story, you could at least change the "HP" to "TI" to make it relevant... :-p

TI and the Calculus Scam

[Walker]

Before I begin this rant, I should mention that Texas Instruments does not actually make these things anymore. They sold off their calculator division long ago. Hence these things are TI's, not Texas Instrument calculators.

The company that does make them makes a good deal of their total revenue of these things. And in order to keep this revenue coming in, they have made themselves the official Calculator of Calculus (TM). Every major textbook is geared for this calculator, and even the AP exam requires it (or something very much like it) these days. I get students in Calculus straight out of high school who ask me to tell them what the "official calculator for the course" is.

Now, there are some really useful things you can do with a calculator in a Calculus class. The problem is 90% of all high school calculus teachers are not trained enough to use them properly. And using them improperly is worse than not using them at all.

I use to be head proctor for the placement exams for the Engineering school at Cornell. The year calculators were added to the Calculus AP, we saw a statistically significant drop in scores. However, when I complain about these problems, I get called a technophobe.

God, how I hate these things.

Re:TI and the Calculus Scam

[Kainaw]

However, when I complain about these problems, I get called a technophobe.

Whatever name you are called, it is only by the ignorant. Computers of all kinds are making humans dumber in many areas. Most students cannot answer simple questions, like what is 7 times 8? They also cannot spell because Word will correct the spelling for them.

It is considered a minor problem in the United States. I have been studying reading and writing Chinese for many years and the 'computer assistance problem' is considered far worse over there. Without computer help, kids in the US can figure out some sequence of letters that makes them understood (I can't tell you how many times I've graded a Computer Science test with 'integer' spelled 'interger'). In China, missing a few strokes or adding one in the wrong place will completely change the meaning of the character. So, students there have trouble getting understood without having a computer help them pick out the correct characters.

While I don't like it, I think of it as the slide-rule example. Who is required to learn to use a slide-rule anymore? It isn't required because it isn't needed. With the same argument, why should Chinese kids learn to write all the Chinese characters from memory when a computer picks out the correct words for them? Then, why should any student learn 7*8 when they have a fancy calculator (really a mini-computer) that will do the thinking for them? When these little computers do enough of our thinking about the unimportant stuff, we can spend more time thinking about important stuff, like the Simpons.

Re:calculators are dead

[cybermace5]

I like having my calculator batteries last for months, if not years, on end. My ancient TI-85 is always near, always ready.

Plus, the input area on a TI calculator is much larger than even the screen on a PDA, which has to display both the input interface and the results.

Hardcoded keys are fantastic for memorizing quick patterns. Would you try to replace a computer keyboard with a few square inches of touch-sensitive LCD and a stylus?

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.

Re:The 89 is banned as well dude...

[afidel]

Bullshit, from the collegeboard website:

Calculator Policy You may use almost any four-function, scientific, or graphing calculator on the SAT I and Math Level IC, and Math Level IIC Subject Tests. You are not permitted to use:

* Hand-held minicomputers or laptop computers
* Electronic writing pads or pen-input devices
* Pocket organizers (PDAs)
* Calculators with QWERTY (typewriter-like) keypads
* Calculators with paper tape
* Calculators that "talk" or make unusual noises
* Calculators that require an electrical outlet

The bolded entry is why the Ti92 is banned and the Ti89 is not.