Re: A89: Re: Re: Re: Re: Grayscale troubles
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Re: A89: Re: Re: Re: Re: Grayscale troubles
Sorry that I have to say it, but games have little to nothing to do with
calculator purchase for Joe Average. Joe gets a TI-83 (Maybe a Plus if he's
feeling extravagant) because his teacher says so. Joe throws away the manual.
Joe is amazed that the TI-83 can do such amazing things as have an 'Equation
Solver'. Joe doesn't understand the math that their being presented with in the
courses either; Joe just copies it down and memorizes it.
How many people on this list are Joe Average? I know that I, personally, bought
a TI-89 because of the amazingly powerfull math. I was awestruck. It's let me
play around with a lot of things I couldn't have done before, and there is very
little I don't know about the things it does (That TI has provided, anyways. I
don't mess around in programming it much).
Joe Average, on the other hand, doesn't know what to do when his calculator is
in Radian mode and sin(60) gets him something bizzarre.
So why on earth does Joe have a TI-83? Because his teacher says so. The teacher
doesn't necessarily understand them either (mine doesn't) but a TI-83 is what
has been reccommended to them. Teacher has a printout of keystrokes that the
TI-83 has for special occasions.
So you see, teachers are the main reason that TI sells calculators to students.
That's why TI acts as if the gaming community doesn't exist; The percentage of
people who buy their calculator because of -gaming capability- is so miniscule
that it is cheaper for TI to disregard them then to cooperate.
That clear things up a bit?
--robin
James Darpinian wrote:
>
> What do you mean, they don't sell their calculators to students? They most
> certainly market their calculators to students! If they only marketed to
> teachers, they'd only sell calcs in Nasco and other teacher stores. They
> love it when teachers buy their calculators, but they depend on the student
> market as well. And for the student market, grayscale is a big plus. TI
> may not want to admit it, but they know as well as we do that our games are
> a reason some people buy their calculators. About half the people at my
> school who own TI-89s bought them partly because of the games. TI can't
> ignore that kind of power. Also, why would teachers turn to another
> calculator just because TI provided grayscale? Most teachers don't follow
> the calculator gaming scene, so they probably wouldn't even know if TI
> released info that made grayscale faster. There are games available for the
> other brands of graphing calculators too, so teachers couldn't just switch
> to a brand with no games.
>
> James Darpinian
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: M. Adam Davis <adavis@ubasics.com>
> To: <assembly-89@lists.ticalc.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 04, 2000 11:44 AM
> Subject: Re: A89: Re: Re: Re: Re: Grayscale troubles
>
> >
> > TI's main (and only) market for these calculators is the educational
> market.
> > They sell their calculators to teachers and school decision makers, THEY
> DON'T
> > SELL CALCULATORS TO STUDENTS. They sell the teachers on them, and the
> teachers
> > then specify them. For each teacher who knows how to teach with a TI
> > calculator, TI has a dedicated sale of 80 - 500 calculators/year.
> >
> > If TI openly provides an easy way to use grayscale, many teachers will
> turn to
> > another calulator, or not teach with one at all. Therefore it is not in
> their
> > best interest (financially) to do so.
> >
> > The fact that TI can sell the TI-89 for as little as it does is only
> becaus eof
> > the volume they sell these things in. Were they to allow game programming
> (ie,
> > grayscale) then their market would drop so much that they wouldn't be
> worth
> > their time to build them.
> >
> > -Adam
> >
> > PsyKaBek@aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > > Why wouldnt Ti want grayscale?
> > >
> > > -Kent
> >
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