On The List Of Things That Annoy...

Oct 3, 2008 at 4:01 PM
4 comments

Why do people insist on writing scientific calculator applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch with interfaces that exactly mimic vintage hardware with physical buttons and keys?

Seriously, WTF is that about?

Yes, I understand you trained yourself to use that ancient HP-15C, and it was a grueling process that you're not interested in repeating. I get that. What, you couldn't get another HP-15C on eBay? You had to code a simulation of it into the iPhone, complete with a photorealistic depiction of the original keypad?

I'm kinda twitchy about it, because you— you know— your iPhone application is not really an HP-15C. I'm pretty sure the Hewlett-Packard engineers worked all the critical bugs out of the HP-15C. I'm not so sure about your simulation of it. Making the interface have a pretty picture that looks just like an HP-15C without the HP logo on it isn't fooling me.

Surveying the field of engineering and scientific calculators for the iPhone and iPod Touch is kind of frustrating. I'd like to have a calculator in my phone with a blistering array of functions in it. And, while I still dearly love my vintage Casio FX-450— the best non-programmable compact calculator ever made— I would never dream of reproducing its human interface, right down to the font on the keys, as an iPhone application.

WTF is wrong with the primates on my planet? Why do they do this?

4 comments

Tags:

Comments

Aw, c'mon, what's wrong with enjoying a little retro-tech goofiness? There are at least two iPhone apps that simulate a rotary phone dial. There's an abacus app as well. Maybe someone else will write an app that simulates a K+E log log duplex decitrig slide rule, or a Curta mechanical calculator.

I know a guy at work who has, in his office, two faux-futuristic clocks with ridiculously unhelpful UIs, and I don't ask WTF is wrong with him (at least not because of the clocks). ;-)

I don't have a problem with people reveling in retro-techno-geekery. The complaint is that people are reveling in retro-techno-geekery instead of writing a functional scientific calculator that properly uses the UI elements in the iPod Touch.

Write me a boring stupid scientific calculator with all the math functions you need to get through the average undergraduate engineering program. Charge me US$50.00 for it. I don't care. I'll pay it. Then, you can write your abacus simulator and make it sing pornographic J-pop every time you touch a bead.

If that's what straightens your tie.

There are several calculators on the app store that don't try to mimic specific real-world calculators. Unfortunately, I found iTunes' UI for searching/browsing the app store to be quite wanting. But look at something like pcalc.

I haven't found any as fully featured as my ancient Casio FX-450.

On The List Of Things That Annoy...

Comments

Post a comment

About Me

My Groups

Neighborhood

Tags

Archives