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A92: TI's numbering system
knocking all the high numbers and lower numbers off and just leaving
70-100:
first came the 80 and 81
these calculators were going to be used just to do easy graphs and
semi-fast calculations with only about 50 or 100 commands, these two
calculators became basically obsolete and shunned upon (like New Kids on
the Block--lol).
then came the 82
this calculator was suppose to solve the problem with limited graph
work, and also use tables. it also included sequential graphing. with
about 100+ commands this calculator still is used by science/math
teachers (not only low price, but does everything necessary for the
class)
slightly after the 82 came the 85
this calculator was based more on engineering with it's base conversions
(binary, decimal, octal, and hex). it also had a constant library, and
you could use more letters in the variables. this was suppose to end
the problem for programmers having not enough material, they could get
the 82 for the pxltest type programs, and 85 with it's wide matrices and
150+ commands.
then came the assemblers
these people were known as the hackers, although they weren't hackers
(or at least they didn't need to be a hacker to do what they did). they
just did some backups on the computer and reverse engineered what the ti
company gave them. they found a loophole in each calculator (explained
at ticalc.org) giving them the ability to do assembly. ti was mad that
they didn't get any benefits from this, they thought that if they had
featured the assembly in the first place, and sold some assembly
games/software they would've made more money.
ti-92 and 83
the ti company was currently developing the 92 around the time they got
mad at the assemblers. they didn't want to scrub the calculator and
make another one, so they coincided the project. the 92 i believe came
out first and then the 83 later. the 92 was suppose to halt the
assemblers from "hacking" it, and the 83 was ti's first assembly access
calculator. the 83 was the same as the 82 except for the assembly.
they had to make another one for the 85s.
ti-86 and 92-hack
the ti company was developing a calculator that was the same as the 85
with more commands than the 83 and with the 83's power, more memory, and
had assembly access. about this time came the assemblers with their
"fargo" on the 92. ti got mad again, they thought they secured it, but
they new they could fix the problem. they started the 92+ project after
finishing the 86.
92+, 89, and 76
the ti company was working hard on figuring out how to make the 92+
module be "software upgradeable," and they came up with (or rather
found) FLASH technology. in the process of doing this they realized
they needed to make another calculator after a recent conference for the
SAT students because the 92's profit was low on the count they thought
it was the SATs problem. the 89 was designed to counter this problem.
they also realized that they were thinking of highschool kids, they left
out the middle school, so they thought up a calculator with pie chart,
and all that other stuff you do in middle school. they basically ran
out of numbers in the ti8x series. the ti84 wasn't going to be the name
because the ti8x's were for highschool, so they just found a number in
the lower range, the ti-76. this 3 projects are now running
simultaneously at the ti company, what will they come out with next?
if you ask me they should change the processor to a 16-32 bit system
instead of 8-16, and maybe have multiple "windows" (like the Dialog box
on the ti-92). they should also see into being in COLOR or have a
program to run a small color lcd screen through the port (imagine that,
color--that would be a good change).
-Rob
p.s. if any of this information is wrong, please feel free to correct,
i got this from my thoughts, not research, just don't say "you're so
stupid, you mixed everything up." to me it sounds good.
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