Re: Why are TI Calcs so inferior?


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Re: Why are TI Calcs so inferior?



On Thu, 14 Nov 1996 18:39:07 GMT Goatboy <lcappite@SPRYNET.COM> writes:
>I've been looking over the tech specs for all the TI calculators, and
>I can't argue that these calculators are spectacular. They are the
>most ingenious pieces of equipment for school use and such. However,
>they're hardware is very inferior. The hard disk so to speak only is
>about 30K. The processor runs at 6MHz? It only has an assembly
>language, not something better? My gosh, on today's technology, hd
>space is 6 *cents* a meg? And hard drives are the size of a TI calc.
>If u shrink down the hd to that of a mini cassette, and put it in the
>TI, u could get about 1/3 a gig. And you could probably do better,
>because I've seen a mini cassette for the computer that holds a gig,
>and the drive it goes in to is only 1 cm bigger on each side. And the
>chip? The 486 chips are like $30 bucks nowadays, and they run at
>66MHz. AMD chips are $75 for a 133MHz version. And the display screen.
>I've seen sony watchman that were smaller and they have a color screen
>at 320x200.
>
>Basically, what I'm saying is with today's current technology and its
>cheapness, TI could probably come out with a calculator that could
>outperform my computer (mine is a 486 DX2-50) for the same price as
>their 92, and I don't know why they aren't trying.


Don't you know the technology rule that smaller=more expensive?  Why do
you think laptops are so much more expensive than desktop pcs?  You can't
just chop your gig hard drive into 4 chunks to make cheap little drives
for your TI calc.  Just look at the prices on PDA's like the newton, and
from what I've seen they still don't come close to the power of your 486
pc.  Even with programming capabilities, the calculator is still designed
for a specified purpose, it was never meant as a stand in for your
computer.  Or as I like to say, you can't make Thai cuisine in a toaster.
:)


Jenna Morris
jenmorris@juno.com


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