Hi,
For those curious about the 'new' HP calculators
here is a quite detailed link about the HP-49G
http://www.exrom.com/hp_49g_press_rel.htm
Apparently this unit replaces the 48G+ . Anybody got opinions?
To me, it looks like 48G+ is so-so and 49G is worse.
Neither is a thing I can just walk up to and
get some quick trigonometry, or formulas evaluated with.
A CLOSE PARALLEL..... when they money-manager-types
(seen in 'Dilbert') took over Heathkit, they didn't
entirely bankrupt it...... they focused exclusively
on academic products such as textbooks and learning
aids (for community colleges). They still sell
community college books & things to this day, even
though they brutally threw out everything the standard
customers wished to buy.
Looks like HP is doing the same thing? All I see in their
article is "colleges, high schools, colleges, high schools,
HP cirriculum for math class" etc etc. They figure a sucker
is born every minute, and half of them will enroll
into a math class ? Instant guaranteed market.
Kind of like what Heathkit did. For those who
actually wanted a product to use, tough tomatoes
they won't be too interested with your needs.
One possible problem with this scheme is that TI
is already doing it, with the TI-89 . Considering
how incompatible these different calculators are,
you'd think maybe the professor would rather
focus on the academic cirriculum, than on paying
out loot for gimmicky new calculators ?