Re: Jean-Yves Avenard

JB <wjbudd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sincerely, JB P.S. If the 50g is as good as some people claim, it
would be dynamite with a larger screen and a qwerty keyboard. I love
that keyboard because I can enter problems quickly using both hands
with no concern for whether I pressed the alpha, or alpha lock keys.

I suspect there would be a lot of resistance to crossing the QWERTY
line, for entirely non-technical reasons. QWERTY keyboards are often
used as a convenient dividing line for calculators allowed on college
entrance exams, certification tests, in college math classes, etc.
There's no good reason for that to be the case, but the line got drawn
there, and a calculator that includes a QWERTY keyboard is going to face
an uphill battle in some markets as a result.

I can certainly understand a desire for a larger screen. I am primarily
use my calc for the CAS right now, to avoid lugging a laptop around, and
most of the formulae I work with extend off the screen. I'd have paid
an extra $50 or so for something larger... but then, I'm not a typical
calculator user. It's been said here (I'd cite sources, but I don't
recall) that keeping the HP-49G+ price-comparable with the TI-89 was a
major driving factor in all sorts of decisions, and the 50G would be no
different in that respect.

(Speaking of QWERTY keyboards, was there ever a decision reached on the
technical feasibility of enabling host mode on the USB port of the
50G/49G+? I know this was discussed a year or two ago. I have the
S3C2410X docs here, but I lack the EE knowledge or understanding of the
USB protocol to reach a conclusion without too much effort. I'm not
proposing to work on this; just curious about feasibility.)

--
Chris Smith
.