Want to see a non-incremental innovation for multi-touch calculators?
A friend of a friend wrote this: http://mathtouchapp.com/ (He doesn't know I'm linking it here).
The app throws away the calculator metaphor and starts from scratch. Instead, the author uses the back-of-a-napkin as the metaphor.
You start with a blank page and add systems of equations. You can visually link variables together. You can insert values along with its unit of measurement and numeric precision. You can feed results to graphs.
At $10, this is cheaper than getting the Nspire if you already have an iOS device. But of course, you can't use it when taking the SAT. And it would be cool if you can export it to Wolfram's computational data format and trade formula libraries.
You need to actually understand the math instead of just punching the buttons. Then again, isn't that what Sal Khan's videos are for?
I'm suspicious that I won't find it useful. Pencils and paper are awfully nice. I bet that even a trained user of this software can't write an equation faster than I can.
Sometimes it is nice to be able to typeset equations, or feed them into Matlab or Mathematica, and I guess this might help with that. But I don't own Matlab or Mathematica anymore.
And, yes, the paper requires you to know that m is a mass with units of kilograms and q is a charge with units of coulombs, and that the m in one equation is the same as the m in another. But if you can't keep track of that yourself I'm not sure why you're bothering to write down equations.
I don't remember. I'm not very good at writing posts that get a lot of upvotes. You are more then welcomed to try -- this app can get all the marketing help it gets.
A friend of a friend wrote this: http://mathtouchapp.com/ (He doesn't know I'm linking it here).
The app throws away the calculator metaphor and starts from scratch. Instead, the author uses the back-of-a-napkin as the metaphor.
You start with a blank page and add systems of equations. You can visually link variables together. You can insert values along with its unit of measurement and numeric precision. You can feed results to graphs.
At $10, this is cheaper than getting the Nspire if you already have an iOS device. But of course, you can't use it when taking the SAT. And it would be cool if you can export it to Wolfram's computational data format and trade formula libraries.
You need to actually understand the math instead of just punching the buttons. Then again, isn't that what Sal Khan's videos are for?