The iPod Touch's next killer app: Graphing Calculator
For some of you, it may sound nerdy but think of this: the iPod is the star among students and what does every math/science/engineering/whatever student need? A graphing calculator! Just another reason for students to get one.
Imagine graphing on that beautiful screen, logical menu layout. Oh, it is just so enticing! How many megs could it possibly take up? Probably less than 5MB. Giving that Apple already has a graphing calculator on Mac OS X, how long would it take to port one? Not long.
I'd buy an iPod touch the next day if it had one. For now, we must content with our $100 black and white TIs which really haven't changed in the past 17 years!
Imagine graphing on that beautiful screen, logical menu layout. Oh, it is just so enticing! How many megs could it possibly take up? Probably less than 5MB. Giving that Apple already has a graphing calculator on Mac OS X, how long would it take to port one? Not long.
I'd buy an iPod touch the next day if it had one. For now, we must content with our $100 black and white TIs which really haven't changed in the past 17 years!
Comments
I actually humored myself thinking about an Apple Graphing Calculator the other day, thinking how much better it would be than my TI-83+, this would be very cool. Not sure if they'll ever do it or not.
Haha, yes. If Apple were ever to do this then no doubt their product would be a lot more elegant then the TI calculators (I myself also use a TI-83+). But then again, knowing Apple, they'll charge through the roof for it.
(and dont think that typing on a calculator is easy either)
I actually humored myself thinking about an Apple Graphing Calculator the other day, thinking how much better it would be than my TI-83+, this would be very cool. Not sure if they'll ever do it or not.
If they open it up, Apple doesn't have to be the author. This is something GNU could be all over, since the iPod Touch and iPhone are probably burly enough to run parts of Octave, and as far as we know the stripped-down OS X still has the BSD layer.
I remember buying a TI-82 in the early 90's for $80. Today's TI-83 is BARELY more functional, if at all, and costs, get this, $100. It is a gigantic racket. It wouldn't be very difficult for some enterprising individual to put a fairly substantial calculator software package onto the iPod Touch.
As long as it has RPN entry, I'll be satisfied.
Imagine tapping on the screen to move your cursor in the equation or selecting part of it and moving it around, or to isolate a variable by dragging it.
It is amazing how the iPod turned into the Newton: The Next Generation before our very eyes.
The iPod doesn't have handwriting recognition so I don't know if it's fair to say it's a Newton. Maybe the iPod will never need handwriting recognition if the interface is good enough.
The iPod doesn't have handwriting recognition so I don't know if it's fair to say it's a Newton. Maybe the iPod will never need handwriting recognition if the interface is good enough.
Inkwell.
Not on there yet but it's part of OS X and could easily be added I'm sure. Probably don't have much interest in doing that though.
For some of you, it may sound nerdy but think of this: the iPod is the star among students and what does every math/science/engineering/whatever student need? A graphing calculator! Just another reason for students to get one.
Imagine graphing on that beautiful screen, logical menu layout. Oh, it is just so enticing! How many megs could it possibly take up? Probably less than 5MB. Giving that Apple already has a graphing calculator on Mac OS X, how long would it take to port one? Not long.
I'd buy an iPod touch the next day if it had one. For now, we must content with our $100 black and white TIs which really haven't changed in the past 17 years!
The time for hand-held calculators is nearly at an end (should have ended sometimes in the past decade, but sometimes these things take a while). Everyone has computers now -- there is no need to use a crippled device like the TI-83 when one can run Maple, Mathematica, Matlab, SAS, etc on real hardware. The "graphing calculator" has no future, so there would be no reason for Apple to waste time on such a device.
I use graphing calculators all the time. Sometimes I need a quick calc and dont want to launch Maple or Mathematica. Using a laptop while taking an exam would be awkward. I tried using a powerbook at one time to do the mathematics of my homework, unfortunately it was alot more awkward too.
The time for hand-held calculators is nearly at an end (should have ended sometimes in the past decade, but sometimes these things take a while). Everyone has computers now -- there is no need to use a crippled device like the TI-83 when one can run Maple, Mathematica, Matlab, SAS, etc on real hardware. The "graphing calculator" has no future, so there would be no reason for Apple to waste time on such a device.
The iPod Touch isn't a "crippled device like the TI-83." As far as I know, it has a pretty large amount of RAM and a high-end ARM with a hardware FPU. The iPod Touch is a higher-end computing platform than the PC's I ran Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab on while I was in college. . . And I wasn't in college that long ago.
Best of all, it would just be software, so it's not like anyone has to go through the trouble of building an actual calculator. As far as I can tell, most of the hard work has already been done by the folks who develop Octave.
I'd buy an iPod touch the next day if it had one. For now, we must content with our $100 black and white TIs which really haven't changed in the past 17 years!
That would be pretty sweet... I would buy one as well. Except the screen seems a little small for all those features/buttons though. As for the TIs... the new Inspire is insanely cool with like 4X the pixel density of the 83/84s and more stuff that you can do with it that takes 3 years to understand how it works
For others: A laptop is not a replacement for a hand-held calculator such as the 83/84. Not even close. Although there would be much better speed, features, and ease of navigation, many tests/classes limit the functionality of the calculator saying 'only 4 function' or 'no 89s, 91s, others with qwerty keyboard' to show that you can actually do math instead of just relying on a machine to do it for you. As well as the ability to store (cheating) information on a computer vs a calculator. Not even to mention how much easier/convenient it is to pull out a TI to find the cosine of 1.9π instead of a laptop and then opening up an app and doing it on a keyboard not designed for math efficiency (or a mouse, eek).
That would be pretty sweet... I would buy one as well. Except the screen seems a little small for all those features/buttons though. As for the TIs... the new Inspire is insanely cool with like 4X the pixel density of the 83/84s and more stuff that you can do with it that takes 3 years to understand how it works
For others: A laptop is not a replacement for a hand-held calculator such as the 83/84. Not even close. Although there would be much better speed, features, and ease of navigation, many tests/classes limit the functionality of the calculator saying 'only 4 function' or 'no 89s, 91s, others with qwerty keyboard' to show that you can actually do math instead of just relying on a machine to do it for you. As well as the ability to store (cheating) information on a computer vs a calculator. Not even to mention how much easier/convenient it is to pull out a TI to find the cosine of 1.9π instead of a laptop and then opening up an app and doing it on a keyboard not designed for math efficiency (or a mouse, eek).
Never learned a computer algebra system (like Maple), have you?
> cos(1.9*Pi);
It's really not that hard. And when do you do all of these things? -- you're at work (or at school working on an assignment) and your computer is right there anyway.
The exam thing is a problem with a conservative school system; and the reason that there are still calculators around. But as I said, this ought best to pass: there are much better tools. Hopefully this will all be worked out by the time my kids are getting close to college.
Denton, you are so wrong!
I use graphing calculators all the time. Sometimes I need a quick calc and dont want to launch Maple or Mathematica. Using a laptop while taking an exam would be awkward. I tried using a powerbook at one time to do the mathematics of my homework, unfortunately it was alot more awkward too.
Quick calculations, I can understand. I use the calculator on my Nokia from time to time for those sorts of things.
When are you ever not at your computer when you need to do any quick calculation that involves something more than simple arithmetic?
Don't want to learn a CAS, then download this and save yourself $130 by not buying a TI83.
The iPod Touch isn't a "crippled device like the TI-83." As far as I know, it has a pretty large amount of RAM and a high-end ARM with a hardware FPU. The iPod Touch is a higher-end computing platform than the PC's I ran Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab on while I was in college. . . And I wasn't in college that long ago.
Best of all, it would just be software, so it's not like anyone has to go through the trouble of building an actual calculator. As far as I can tell, most of the hard work has already been done by the folks who develop Octave.
It makes no sense buying a dedicated piece of hardware for what you can do using any computer (this is not PC gaming vs console gaming). You're right, the iPod and iPhone are heading in the "computer" direction, so if you have one of these, and can load software onto them, then having a CAS (or Stat package, etc) on there is a good use of a device you already have.
It doesn't solve the problem with electronic devices in exams, but that will get worked out eventually.
I just created a group on Facebook, so join if you want (iPod Touch users who want sci calc on it). I hope this idea can grow a little more, so at least we will get it by jailbreaking the iPods.
You guys know more about this whole thing than me =P, would it be possible to get, for example, Belfry's calc as a standalone application??
Ok, thx!
Oh, finally someone seems to understand me!!
I just created a group on Facebook, so join if you want (iPod Touch users who want sci calc on it). I hope this idea can grow a little more, so at least we will get it by jailbreaking the iPods.
You guys know more about this whole thing than me =P, would it be possible to get, for example, Belfry's calc as a standalone application??
Ok, thx!
iCalc3D is @ the appstore under education. IPhone and IPod touch 2.0
Check out www.openstackinc.com
Oh, finally someone seems to understand me!!
I just created a group on Facebook, so join if you want (iPod Touch users who want sci calc on it). I hope this idea can grow a little more, so at least we will get it by jailbreaking the iPods.
You guys know more about this whole thing than me =P, would it be possible to get, for example, Belfry's calc as a standalone application??
Ok, thx!
FXPAD is @ the appstore under education. IPhone and IPod touch (2.0 and later)
Check out http://sites.google.com/site/chir21/home/fxpad
It can plot several functions at the same time, and compute intersection coordinates at the touch of a finger!