# Graphing calculators - necessity or waste **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209 "2003-08-28T15:33:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209/41 "2003-09-01T06:25:46Z")
Getting a Ti-89 is kinda like giving a child all the answers to every problem in the book. If they’re good students, they’ll still make sure they understand the concepts, but if they get even a bit lazy, they can let the 89 do _everything_ for them and end up not learning a damn thing. I’ve been using the 83-plus since Trig, and ever since then I’ve found the calculator a useful tool to have with me. I’ve not been able to use it on any of my Calculus tests, but for homework, it’s a lot easier than having to take all the fractions, put them under the same denominator, and then adding them up. Yes, I can do that on my own, but it’s a lot easier to do with the calculator. In Chem, it was definitely nice to have, yes I could have used a scientific I suppose, but it’s a lot easier to manage with a multi-line display. The uses in physics are along the same lines. While it’s not ‘necessary’ for the most part, it’s a lot nicer to have, it makes things easier, at least it has for this second-year EE major. (And no, I have not grown dependent on it, in fact I’m pretty proud of my mental math ability, and can function very well without my calculator.) ---
**Author:** ![Moon-Watcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@Moon-Watcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moon-Watcher)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209/42 "2003-09-01T16:23:39Z")
I’ve used every graphing calculator TI has ever produced (and own an 85, an 86 and an 89) and I can say there is no reason why an 83 wouldn’t be more than enough for high school/college math. In fact, at my Uni the 83 is the standard requirement for all of the lower-tier trig and calc classes. Throughout four semesters of math classes I was permitted to use a calc but only needed to in the lowest level class. As an astrophyiscs major I hardly ever used a calc except to do some number crunching on problem sets and in intro pysics classes. The higher up you go the a calc becomes less useful whereas a computer program like Maple (my favorite) or Mathematica become the standard. ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209/43 "2003-09-02T03:57:42Z")
When I was in high school, the math department had a couple of class sets of 83’s that we could use in class only…it was reccomended that we buy our own for homework and for chemistry though. I still have mine, but use it primarily as a regular calculator. I do like having the large viewing screen though…it helps with my bills 🙂 And I hated the games…every time I loaded one on, it wiped out my stored memory, and I always lost whatever formulas I had saved. But I think I’m just special… ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209/44 "2003-09-02T05:00:39Z")
I got a TI-83 for Algebra I my freshman year of high school, and I still use it to this day. It’s a little worn (the cover is wedged on with some folded paper, the rubber pads are gone, and it has several scuff marks on it) but I can’t imagine not having it. I’m going to be using it for my Stats class this semester of college (I’m a sophomore) and I’m glad I have it. As for programming, I learned most of my high school math by figuring out how to program the calc. That’s what most people don’t realize: you have to know how to do it before you can write the program to do it. Think of it as a long-term investment, and don’t bother with the 89. When it’s legal on standardized tests, pigs will fly. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209/45 "2003-09-02T16:48:18Z")
College math teacher checking in here. I personally have never owned/used a graphing calculator, partly because I’ve never had $100-$150 that I wanted to spend on something that I’d just have to worry about getting lost, stolen, or broken, when I had a computer sitting at home that could more easily do anything I wanted to do with it except carry it around with me. And in all the classes I have taught (i.e. freshman/sophomore-level college math classes, including all levels of algebra and calculus), I have never required any of my students to have a graphing calculator, partly because I felt bad requiring my students to spend that much on one, and partly because I didn’t want to spend class time going over how to use it. But I do encourage those students who already have one to use it to check their work, play around with it, etc. And many of the textbooks I use have bits in them on using the graphing calculator, that can be read or ignored at the student’s discretion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphing-calculators-necessity-or-waste/198209.md?page=2)