Re: TI-H: New company


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Re: TI-H: New company




Joe Martis wrote:
>Ok...I did send a message a couple minuets ago about the new cal idea
>wich I had ohh....four months ago but didn't post cause everyone
would
>have told me to shut up once more...but now everyone wants it...now
I'm
>going to state something that most people will blow off and later say
>'oh ain't this cool...' and everyone will credit him...well that's
>life...

ah, shut up... ;)

Hey everybody, I have a great idea,
>Let's start a company...like TI...it makes calculators for scientific
>and mathmatical uses...it has a natural grey-scale (not this 1/3 2/3
>crap)...and a normal look...a built in speaker as a notice (not
games)
>and a SPI(ntercafe) type link port for temp sensors and volume
detectors
>and crap...
>but then there is asm for new plugins and advanced progs...and for
games
>if you must...don't make it expensive with stereo (cmoon, a small
width?
>you could bearly tall the difference,) intel spec chips...but rather
use
>zilog 180(?) chips and other cheaper brands...
>if the popularity for this in the industrial and engenerring field is
>great...this company could be better than TI...

:)  Just kidding guys...
But seriously, I think this is a really good idea.  Instead of basing
this
on TI's calcs, why not start over and do it right the first time?
Design
it with lots of features, but also set it up for easy and flexible IO,
perhaps
with one or more digital and analog I/O ports.
The specific processor isn't really all that important, as long as it
is fairly
inexpensive and has a reasonably small instruction set.  If you
provide
a good PC-based development library with it, it should be quite simple
to program with.

If you keep the cost low, and the versatility high, and provide lots
of
features that would make it great for classroom use, you might even
be able to get a signigicant share of TI's market. Very user friendly
(yet powerful) MacOS and Windows software for emulation and
communication with the calc is a must.  Communications should be
via a standard 9-pin serial cable, cheap and no custom link cables
to buy.  Sound would be a good feature, and a high resolution realtime
clock is essential!

The ability to redirect I/O thru a port and a couple DMA channels
would
be handy for people who want to be able to add custom hardware.

Loads of memory would be required for realtime data capture when
in the field, but the memory should be expandable, so you don't have
to pay for it when only using it for math.

A GUI isn't essential, but it would be nice, and could simplify the
operation of the calculator.  Perhaps as a switchable feature, with
the option for a TI-85-like command line interface.  GUI's just beg
for pointing devices, so a touch screen and perhaps a stylus would
be great.  Functions in pop-up menus would eliminate the need for
a huge keypad, like the TI-85s have.  Only commonly used fuctions
need a key, and a couple of Custom keys could take care of the
rest.

I'd buy one.

DK


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