With the rapid rise and ubiquity of handheld computing devices, I sometimes have to remind myself that I’ve always had handheld computing devices of one sort or another, for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of a handheld Nintendo game called Mario’s Cement Factory, released the year of my birth. Growing up, I used a Franklin device with replaceable cartridges carrying various dictionaries (English-English, French-English, and a database of movies before the time of imdb). Both those devices were very rudimentary in their processing power, but more formidable was the TI-83 graphing calculator, a staple of my high school pre-calc and calculus classes.
Times have changed. Schoolchildren are now asked to bring in their TI-84’s, rather than ‘83’s. And as word recently emerged, the next-gen TI-84’s will be sporting a color screen. Looking at some of the snapshots, on TechPoweredMath and others who have reported the news, I can’t help but make a connection that eluded me earlier. The graphing calculator now exists in a world swarming with other mobile computers competing for our attention. And with those mobile computers capable of performing similar functions, will the graphing calculator survive?
Graphing calculators aren’t cheap, after all; here’s a TI-84 that runs $119 on Office Depot’s site. Given that many students may already be packing an iPhone or Android that cost even more, and with access to a range of graphing calculator apps (here’s a well-reviewed one for $2), how much longer can Texas Instruments be counting on teachers of pre-calc to protect this market? There are already web pages out there giving advice on how to avoid shelling out $100 on a graphing calculator, using apps or sites like Wolfram Alpha. They point out that even if you need a calculator for an exam, you can rent one from a site like rentcalculators.org.
Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.
