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Calculator Flaw Forces Recall in Virginia

Posted by timothy on from the slight-bump-to-the-gravy-train dept.

Jivecat writes "CNN is reporting that TI is recalling 11,000 calculators issued to students in Virginia because of a flaw that would give them an unfair advantage on standardized tests. A 12-year-old discovered that by pressing two keys at once, the calculators will convert decimals to fractions. The tests require the students to know how to do this with pencil-and-paper." So the calculator is being recalled because it's not crippled enough. Maybe it's a good time to question the wisdom of issuing expensive electronics to students in the first place, though I'm sure the calculator companies would rather you didn't.

4 of 687 comments (clear)

  1. It is TI not HP. by highfreq2 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Now even the moderators have stopped reading the articles.

  2. Read the article by kyoko21 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Umm... so when is HP = TI?

    Or am I blind here?

  3. Texas Instruments! by Pete+Brubaker · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It's not HP. It's TI. Maybe you should find one of those calculators and see if you can get them to read articles for you.

    --
    What's a sig? Pete Brubaker
  4. Re:TI-85 by m85476585 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Manny calculators convert decimals to fractions, but the feature was supposedly disabled in these.