Re: Remember When.... [HP edu materials] Message #16 Posted by Karl Schneider on 15 June 2007, 12:19 a.m., in response to message #1 by Chuck
Chuck --
Nice scans; thanks! I never knew of these publications.
As for the overhead-projecting HP-28S, though, I'd say that using those tools to teach calculus would have been a waste of effort and money. It takes valuable instructional time to learn how to enter symbolic equations on the HP-28 or any other device. Because of the small screen and no Equation Writer, the entered expression doesn't match what is on the board or in the textbook. The wrapped-around single-line results obtained on the calculator are hard to read, with nested parentheses and lack of sub- and superscripting.
I suppose the point is to be able to check one's answers after doing the symbolic calculus by hand, but, well...
And the price! Assuming no educational discount, 30 x $235 = $7050 in 1989 dollars was the minimum "entry fee" for getting the special projecting unit at no additional charge. Hope that none of those pricey calculators disappeared or got broken.
One of the HP-28C's I won on eBay several years ago was in mint condition with the original packaging. The price tag on the box showed $220 or so. I suppose that the hapless buyer expected a modernized HP-41, and found it to be something completely different that (s)he had no idea how to use.
-- KS
Edited: 15 June 2007, 1:13 a.m.
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