The Reign of the $100 Graphing Calculator Required By Every US Math Class Is Finally Ending (engadget.com)

If you took a math class at some point in the US, there is likely a bulky $100 calculator gathering dust somewhere in your closet. Fast forward to today, and the Texas Instruments 84 -- or the TI 84-Plus, or the TI-89 or any of the other even more expensive hardware variants -- is quickly losing relevance. Engadget adds: Thanks to a new deal, they'll soon get a free option. Starting this spring, pupils in 14 US states will be able to use the TI-like Desmos online calculator during standardized testing run by the Smarter Balanced consortium. "We think students shouldn't have to buy this old, underpowered device anymore," Desmos CEO Eli Luberoff said. The Desmos calculator will be embedded directly into the assessments, meaning students will have access during tests with no need for an external device. It'll also be available to students in grades 6 through 8 and high school throughout the year. The calculator is free to use, and the company makes money by charging organizations to use it, according to Bloomberg.

Comments

Slide Rule

[MountainLogic]

I'm waiting for a kid to get expelled for bringing in his grandfather's real slide rule because the slide rule is an unauthorized "cheating device" not covered by a school board approved EULA.

Re:Sounds like a step backwards

[OhPlz]

Which is why the TI-85 was better than the TI-81. You could fake the reset screen perfectly.

Re:it's not $127

[wonkey_monkey]

a hot air balloon ride.

Is that a euphemism? It's so hard to keep up with the lingo...

Re:Meh.

[Hognoxious]

We had to do graphs by hand - graphing calculators were explicitly banned. Generally they were easy questions. Find the roots & find f(0) - you know where it crosses the axes. Diff=0 for the minima/maxima. Double diff=0 for the inflection points. I forget now how you find the asymptotes. Disembowel a goat, maybe.