Re: A89: Re: Re: Re: Re: Grayscale troubles
[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: A89: Re: Re: Re: Re: Grayscale troubles
My point is that Joe Average doesn't -have- a TI89, so TI doesn't care if the
few TI89 programmers are peeved at them.
James Darpinian wrote:
>
> Huh... My school must be abnormal then. (what else is new?) At my school,
> Joe Average TI-89 user bought his (no girls have them) because 1. They can
> cheat on tests and homework with it, and 2. They can play cool games on it
> during math class. Personally, I bought mine for math purposes, not to
> cheat, and I didn't even know about the games. For the other calculators,
> though, you're right (next TI will come out with a calc with no Radian mode
> so as not to confuse Joe Average :-) I guess my school is abnormal though,
> because we don't have any classes that require a graphing calculator except
> AP Calculus (8-10 students a year, and the only AP class offered at our
> school.)
>
> James Darpinian
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Robin Kirkman <misty@drrobin.yi.org>
> To: <assembly-89@lists.ticalc.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 04, 2000 6:08 PM
> Subject: 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
> > > >
> >
References: