New HP-42S Replacement?

[pier4r]

(09-17-2017 08:39 AM)Luigi Vampa Wrote:  - Prime sales figures don't grow.

Well. I think the target for the prime and the prime APP is pretty small, so what one can expect, after a first peak (new product that everyone wants to have) is a stable flow given that X new students are added every year.

furthermore math programs (high school and bachelor/master degrees) are stable since years as far as I know. So actually a student can go with a hp48, 50 or prime or even a good scientific calculator of the time of the 42s and the calculator will do the work nonetheless. Therefore one has a lot of competition from new and old products (or even free. Your free42 based on an "old" system for example). It would be already great if the sales figures would be stable.

Moreover I think that what is important is the maturity of an environment (that is applicable everywhere). If an environment is shiny new but, aside from basic functions, it does not have anything else, it is not attractive. Instead environments with plenty of robust solutions are attractive.

You love your free42 likely because: it is fast, it is usable (although I am not happy with touchscreens), it is stable, it has a lot of functions, likely you have developed your programs for it and there are plenty of programs developed for it that are reliable.

If free42 would release a new version that breaks compatibility, and all has to be written again, with even less functions because it is new (for example, no solver, no matrix, etc.) people won't use it so quickly.