Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

Since the Pi is meant to be for education, what I think would further this goal is to turn the Pi into a graphing calculator as a replacement for the TI series that is currently required in many high schools / colleges. So you would take the basic design, add the case, battery, button pad, cheap screen. Think of a calculator that has the Pi's SD slot, HDMI, USB, GPIO, etc ports.

When used in class or on tests, it can run a built-in program from its ROM. For use in full computer mode, you boot it off an SD card. Anti-cheating can be done via DRM features that are already available on the chip (although open-source purists wouldn't like this part, but it shouldn't get in the way in "full computer" mode).

The way the anti-cheat code could work is simply a calculator function which gives a digital signature hash based on user input. Student enters a serial number from the test, and writes down the function's output (which is derived using a private key burned into the chip, and only accessible by the built-in calculator-mode code).

The reason I think a calculator form factor would work better for the education market, is that every high school already requires a $100 graphing calculator, so might as well make it the calculator be of more use.

Most people I know buy second hand TIs which aren't expensive. They are around the $20-50 (GBP conversion) mark here in the UK.

The Pi is not exactly a good proposition for a calculator either based on form factor and power usage. Also you really do need a tactile input system for calculators as they help avoid costly and confusing mistakes.

I'm not sure why there is so much hate for TI to be honest; they are very functional, very robust, have very good battery life and good resale value. I myself however use a $20 Casio 115/991ES PLUS.

I'm not sure there is really hate for TI calculators, but rather a general sense of "wtf are we paying for" when they've been the same spec and the same price for 20 years. No one really thinks they're bad calculators, but really they should be $20 by now, with a $100 color version or something to round out the high end.

There's an XKCD for that: http://xkcd.com/768/

> every high school already requires a $100 graphing calculator

I can't help but feel this is a historical aberration, and one that is bound to correct itself eventually. The reason it's so entrenched at the moment is, I imagine, standardisation--which is why a custom raspberry pi solution would not be suitable.

As an side, I'm not entirely sure why a graphing calculator is even required anyway. I never used one once in my entire school curriculum, and don't feel like I suffered for it. Being able to plot a function by hand is something of a skill in its own right because it teaches you the analytical tools to be able to learn how a function behaves, and as long as the teacher knows the correct solution there's nothing to be gained from every individual student having their own calculator.

> I never used one once in my entire school curriculum, and don't feel like I suffered for it.

I'm glad someone else said this, because I wasn't going to admit to it. I got through 4 years of high school math and science, and four years as a CS major/math minor and I don't remember ever using anything other than the permutation/combination functions and some basic graphing. The TI-83 was much more important in getting me into programming than doing real math.

Creating programs to do the same steps over and over once I understood it was the biggest benefit I got out of my graphing calculator. However, having a larger screen with a scroll history was a close second, so even just using it as a standard scientific calculator with a large screen made it very useful to me.

My high school didn't require a graphing calculator though, and most of the class didn't have one as I recall.

I'm actually in the same boat, I was in HS back in the 80's. But after raising 2 kids that seemed to need a new calculator for school each year (either due to a new model, or they lost the one from last year) I kind of figured making it a pocket computer that hooks up to their TV would make them "stick around" and be worth the price more.

I wasn't thinking so much as turning the actual Rasp Pi into a calculator, but instead the foundation making a decent calculator that can also fill the function of the Pi (HDMI/USB/SD ports, runs Linux). Figured they would have enough visibility to make the PiCalc the next standard (or work with someone like Ti to make a PiCalc).

It just seems a waste to spend so much money on what I consider junk (single-purpose calculators, and for kids who aren't into math they are useless outside of the classroom). Although as calculators, the Ti's aren't really that bad, but my preference leans to the older HPs.

This is a really interesting concept. Trying to start kids on rougher edges, it really is amazing what some kids this will get them to do. I might buy them for my kids.

But if it's not the approved device, then kids can't follow along in class, right? Do you need full emulation of the competitor interface? It would be neat to see such a device succeed, seems like a tricky path.

I think it's more likely that we converge on something like a tablet form factor and get cross-platform apps. $100 will definitely buy a solid educational tablet.

The graphing calculator is a very stable tool; the raspberry pi is an exploratory device.

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