Survey posted 2005-02-21 19:15 by Jon.

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What kind of wireless are we talking about? Infrared, Bluetooth, 802.11<a|b|g>, CDMA, GSM, ...

I'd definitely get a calculator with 802.11b support (so long as it supports LEAP!) so I can IRC/AIM/MSN on it. :) And browse ticalc.org, of course.

I'm not shur that you would be able to view webpages though. But IMing could be done, also sending programs would be eaisier, you wouldn't have to be inches away from the person your sending it to.

I agree, we could IM which there is no point for the current messaging programs since you must be sitting right next to them anyways...

You could also send programs to each other safely. My teacher always gets freaked when she sees two calculators linked cus she thinks we are sending cheating programs (like we dont do it anyways) and she always has to check it out and see what we were doing. With wireless addons to the old calcs and new calcs with wireless networking built in, you could do so much more. It would also be bad for teachers though because you could send answers to someone else across the room... It still is a good idea though.

Hey, there are six-foot lon cables out there

I have a seven foot I/O link cable. :)

I suppose any length is possible, and you could always just use connectors to connect several cables. I was thinking of the cradle that comes with the TI Keyboard, which has a cable that is pretty long.

Maybe bluetooth instead if a link port...

Also imagine this: The TI network, with over 100,000 users. You can acess special websites such as ticalc.org by using the CAP protocol (WAP :P) aka cap.ticalc.org. You can share programs with users worldwide. You can also chat.

Only if TI wastes money on installing towers...

But then again: think a calculator connected to a high-speed mobile device internet network such as the EDGE!

Wow. But dream on; if this happens, it will hapen after about 5-10 years. At that point, it would be much easier and profitable to get a PDA... but for the students of the future, it would be a miracle!

Towers... It wouldn't be very cost-effective considering that the TI community is spread out over a very large area, and it wouldn't be TI putting up towers - the TI community would be.

They could just make it use CDMA for the cellphone network...

You mean GSM?

There are several different standards for cell phones. CDMA, PCS, GSM....

GSM is newer than CDMA, isn't it?

I think so, CDMA is just the first one that popped into my head.

At any rate, using the cell network wouldn't require them to put up their own towers... But would require an access plan. And then we're making them into cellphones with a built-in graphing calculator.

That is kind of defying the point of the calculator though...but oh well sounds good to me. As long as they add color screens and maybe even a sound card or something...hmmm...

Uh...if you want a cellphone/PDA, just buy one. Adding the color screen and stuff to the calc would drive the price up to the point where I wouldn't be able to afford any new calcs.

True, cellphones are great, but they aren't allowed in class. Have you ever heard a teacher say "All right, class. Take out your cellphones and PDAs; it's time to take a test!"?

But you also don't need a color screen or cellphone capabilities just for a test. A normal calc's good enough for that. :-)

Assuming there are enough users per unit area, the network could be peer-to-peer/repeater-style (like the Internet is, sort of) (although that would eat processing time & battery power (oh, well)).

But it is a big assumption to make that there are enough users per unit area. Considering that there are, only what, 25000 ticalc.org members, how many people would actually go in for that?

If they're anything like my current cellphone provider, they would charge a ton of money and it wouldn't be worth it anymore.
My phone does all kinds of cool stuff, but I can't have games on it without paying ($6 for tetris!), I can't send photos from my computer to it, and webbrowsing costs money!
Now all it does is make calls!
Verizon Wireless, if you're reading this, GO TO HELL!

Ahhh...I feel much better now.
EOL

Ugh.. I have the same plan, it sucks. For some reason even text messaging fails even though it should work, something about error code 97, so it just goes into the water.
Anyways, yes some features like a color screen and such can be useful, but then we're getting into PDA territory, which would also make programming with the "AMS" quite difficult compared to its general inefficency which we have now. I selected "No" because it would have to come with something else.. a high-speed wireless network to transfer ~3k files isn't worth it.

Imagine the graphical bugs you'd get from having to plug in RGB codes.
Anyway, we have to remember the fundamental reason why these features aren't there yet. TI can't make money marketing to people who don't buy their products. Students do not buy 25 million TI-83s. 1 million teachers send a letter home to 25 million parents telling them to buy a TI-83 and they do so. Where would TI be if teachers said to buy a Casio Fx7400G because they are "concerned about the possibilities for disruptive behavior involving certain features of the TI calculator line such as sound, backlighting, and wireless linking?" Remember, HP has the engineering market cornered, so TI would be forced out of schools like the HP calculators but wouldn't have any other niches to go to. They would end up like Trapper Keepers.

Cingular is da way to be.

My cell is great. I have so much games that I almost never play them!

>>Now all it does is make calls!

Which suprizingly or not, is what cellphones were meant for originally! :)

<sarcasm> Wow, you mean it wasn't so that I can send pointless text messages to my friends and play games when I'm bored??? </sarcasm> Or at least I could if I had a cellphone...