Oh, I don't know... I've got a TI-92 (much newer, though a little rare) that has survived for many years. I got one of the prototypes in exchange for developing some educational software for it for one of my math professors, and it has recently been granted a new lease on life by becoming my wife's college calculator.
It's fancy, to be sure- the only calculator I've ever seen with drop-down menus, 3D graphing, CAD (a light version of it, anyhow), the ability to solve complex calculus equations and a full QWERTY keyboard. But it's built like a truck, and has a hard cover that clips over it. Could be it's not an import, but I don't see that sucker ever getting wrecked by anything short of a house fire or a bullet.
I guess my reply was a bit vague. I didn't mean to imply that the newer TI models, import or otherwise, wouldn't last as long as the old basic TI calculator. I was speaking primarily of the Casio/RS/etc. import brands which became mainstream competitors.
Since computers were coming into vogue, I never bothered with buying any more calculators, especially since portability for field work or classes weren't a factor in my usage of a calculating device.
Sounds like an on-site engineers dream come true.
Both HP and TI seem to be able to make assorted plastic parts fit together with more durability and longevity than competitors - albeit for a price. ;-) Probably due to the intended market audience. (Which I am not a part of...)
Greg G. wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
My last calculator purchase (TI-89 Titanium) was a computer... At least by definition. I'm very careful about mentioning that fact to my teachers, as I sometimes smell fear of powerful calculators.
*trim*
I'd have to say the school calculator environment (TI's market) is one of the most hostile that you'll ever have a device in. You've got lots of kids who have nothing better to do there than mess with and abuse things. Most TI calculators survive, but not all do.
Ah yes. The Casios are kind of junky when you put them next to a TI. Same deal as the tool industry, I'd guess- they're almost 1/2 the price in a lot of cases, so they get sold. I'd wager TI owes a lot to the school system- most of which is still suggesting their products, and using them almost exclusively. My wife bought a cheap one, and then took mine after she realized that all of the buttons had different labels than the teacher's.
I've always had a strong attraction/repulsion to calculators. I like the built-in programming capabilities many of them have, but actually feel like using a calculator for simple math is too much of a crutch. Mine usually do duty as handheld units for collecting and interpreting SPC data, or less useful things like playing old side scrolling video games I putz around with programming from time to time.
Oh yeah- or even just a regular geek's. After the wife gets done with her math class, it's going back to work with me. I don't actually
*need* it, it's just a useful toy for tracking SPC data that I'm not actually required to worry about. (The boss doesn't seem to think it's necessary, I just do it because I can.)
Most likely due to the target market, sure. The things have to hold up to teenagers dropping them in a bag with a half-dozen huge, heavy books with hard covers. If they couldn't take a beating, they'd be useless to a lot of kids.
Never saw the HPs, but like you, I'm not part of the target market anymore. Even if I head back to school one of these days, I can't imagine *outgrowing* the one I've got, even if I majored in advanced math or theoretical physics, which is pretty unlikely at my age. (I'm not really "old" by most anyone's standards, but it's been long enough that I imagine it'd be about as pleasant as a visit to the dentist trying to get my semi-rusty brain to work that way again.)
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