[veemjeem]

I don't understand why you're so negative. It's a new product that has new benefits, and new drawbacks. The same could be said about the calculator when it first came out. You couldn't even compute logarithms on the first calculator model, but the slide rule had no problems. Most people were faster using the slide rule so it felt like the calculator was a backwards technological progression.

Should we try to innovate on the calculator or go back to using slide rules?

[tripzilch]

Great example. While the calculator is a great invention, it's also caused many people over two generations of not being able to perform simple arithmetic in their head. Of course, we're hackers and we try to keep our minds fresh by doing simple tricks such as calculating the total value on the receipt before checkout (or the ubiquitous 35% off stickers a certain Dutch supermarket has)--don't we ;) And almost nobody knows how to use a slide rule any more.

And while that's sad, it doesn't make the calculator less great.