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Why do we still pay so much for these shitty calculators?


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#26 Bryan

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Posted 30 November 2010 - 11:40 AM

All I can say about Apple: There are other options. You don't have to buy it. If all you can argue about is pricepoint, then the same can be said for pretty much anything disposable. Fact of the matter is, people buy it anyways. If it's not for you, cool. I can get a pack of cigarettes for 3 dollars less if I drive a mile away. Or I can go to the corner store and pay 3 dollars more and not drive. Am I stupid if I go to the corner store? No, I'm just lazy. If you want an Apple, buy an Apple. If you're on a budget, Apple's not for you. So why do we keep bringing up price? Same with the TI calculators. I don't think I've ever really had a need for a graphing calculator outside of homework for University - and I'm in my final year of Aerospace Engineering and have already been through Physics. You don't need it for tests if you learn the material, and anything you need for homework can be done on the computer. I have a TI-83, 84 & 89 sitting in my closet right now collecting dust...

Textbooks are the one thing have issues with. Not the price, but the way that universities use them. I wouldn't mind paying 200$ for a textbook if I used it. The fact is, everything is pretty much online now. Textbooks are outdated and very infrequently used.

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    #27 Shimmers

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    Posted 30 November 2010 - 03:10 PM

    I can't say too much about Apple, because I don't use their products

    frequently, aside from my 16G iPod Touch which has proven to be worth

    the $300 I spent on it at the time (though I am frustrated that I feel

    like I should be getting a newer one because of it's built in camera).


    However, I'm not sure why people really like Macs. It seems like what you're

    paying for is the design and not the hardware itself. Plus, it seems like a lot

    of programs are accessible only to PC's.


    And it bugs the shit out of me when you can manage a PC formatted iPod on a Mac, but

    you can't manage a Mac formatted iPod on a PC. Posted Image


    I didn't buy my graphing calculator, but for all the things that you can do on it,

    and the time that it has saved me in terms of dealing with homework and such,

    I'd say it would probably be worth the $120 you end up spending. That is of course,

    if you plan on using it often. I'm going to be taking two or so more semesters of math,

    plus the 2.5 years I all ready have, so it's come in handy.


    And, I don't pay for my textbooks either, so I honestly have no opinion on whether

    they're overpriced or not. I'm glad I don't pay for them though because I hardly

    ever look at them. I find that they're just too droll for me to learn off of.



    #28 Gee

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    Posted 01 December 2010 - 11:57 AM

    I agree TI calculators shouldn't be that ridic expensive.
    I bought a Casio calculator that did the same thing in high school for $50 and my teacher STILL forced me to buy a TI-83. Lol, -$120. -__- LOLOL.

    #29 iargue

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    Posted 01 December 2010 - 09:47 PM

    All I can say about Apple: There are other options. You don't have to buy it. If all you can argue about is pricepoint, then the same can be said for pretty much anything disposable. Fact of the matter is, people buy it anyways. If it's not for you, cool. I can get a pack of cigarettes for 3 dollars less if I drive a mile away. Or I can go to the corner store and pay 3 dollars more and not drive. Am I stupid if I go to the corner store? No, I'm just lazy. If you want an Apple, buy an Apple. If you're on a budget, Apple's not for you. So why do we keep bringing up price? Same with the TI calculators. I don't think I've ever really had a need for a graphing calculator outside of homework for University - and I'm in my final year of Aerospace Engineering and have already been through Physics. You don't need it for tests if you learn the material, and anything you need for homework can be done on the computer. I have a TI-83, 84 & 89 sitting in my closet right now collecting dust...

    Textbooks are the one thing have issues with. Not the price, but the way that universities use them. I wouldn't mind paying 200$ for a textbook if I used it. The fact is, everything is pretty much online now. Textbooks are outdated and very infrequently used.




    You completely missed the point. The hate is not on the people who buy Apple, but on Apple itself. (Except people who use Apple are worse because they think they are better then me)

    Apple is like buying Raman Noodles, giving it fancy packaging, and then selling it for $10 dollars. You really are stupid for buying it, but hey, use your money how you want to. :p

    #30 redlion

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    Posted 01 December 2010 - 10:05 PM

    You completely missed the point. The hate is not on the people who buy Apple, but on Apple itself. (Except people who use Apple are worse because they think they are better then me)

    Apple is like buying Raman Noodles, giving it fancy packaging, and then selling it for $10 dollars. You really are stupid for buying it, but hey, use your money how you want to. :p

    Are there design flaws in an apple computer? Does it age well? Does it break? Does it catch fire? Sure, like all machines, it becomes obsolete within a half decade, but there's no reason not to keep using it for as long as it works. They're never underpowered for when they come out. Expensive, but there's quality design at work there.

    And I doubt your analogy is congruous. Raman costs 88 cents a cup. Ten dollars is almost 900% markup.

    #31 Seaner

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 01:49 PM

    So to recap, there's no -real- argument against Apple besides the cost of their products? :|

    #32 Lallard

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 06:49 PM

    All I can say about Apple: There are other options. You don't have to buy it. If all you can argue about is pricepoint, then the same can be said for pretty much anything disposable. Fact of the matter is, people buy it anyways. If it's not for you, cool. I can get a pack of cigarettes for 3 dollars less if I drive a mile away. Or I can go to the corner store and pay 3 dollars more and not drive. Am I stupid if I go to the corner store? No, I'm just lazy. If you want an Apple, buy an Apple. If you're on a budget, Apple's not for you. So why do we keep bringing up price? Same with the TI calculators. I don't think I've ever really had a need for a graphing calculator outside of homework for University - and I'm in my final year of Aerospace Engineering and have already been through Physics. You don't need it for tests if you learn the material, and anything you need for homework can be done on the computer. I have a TI-83, 84 & 89 sitting in my closet right now collecting dust...

    Textbooks are the one thing have issues with. Not the price, but the way that universities use them. I wouldn't mind paying 200$ for a textbook if I used it. The fact is, everything is pretty much online now. Textbooks are outdated and very infrequently used.


    ^Agree on the part regarding TI calculators - being an undergrad with a heavy demand on math (bioengineering with a math minor), throughout my three years my 83 has been left stored somewhere in my stash of old textbooks. For homework you got so much more powerful tools to use (MATLAB for basics, and if you're a cheapass who doesn't want to fork over 100 dollars use scilab) anyways. For exams (particularly physics classes) they banned graphing calculators, so I was stuck with a scientific. It's mainly for high school students, and well since they got a monopoly of the graphing calculator business they can control the prices according to how they see fit.

    Apple's overpriced crap is mainly for customer service I think. I remember some guy in my tri team who forgot to take off his iPod when he jumped off the lake, and since he got it within a year he just took it down to a nearby apple store and got it replaced. Never owned an Apple product myself, so can't really give a direct comparison of any of their products with other brands.

    #33 iargue

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 06:51 PM

    Apple's overpriced crap is mainly for customer service I think. I remember some guy in my tri team who forgot to take off his iPod when he jumped off the lake, and since he got it within a year he just took it down to a nearby apple store and got it replaced. Never owned an Apple product myself, so can't really give a direct comparison of any of their products with other brands.



    If you can buy two of the product for the price of this customer service, is it worth it?

    I can buy a dell computer, with a full 5 year warranty including accidental, for less. :|

    #34 Lallard

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 07:19 PM

    If you can buy two of the product for the price of this customer service, is it worth it?

    I can buy a dell computer, with a full 5 year warranty including accidental, for less. :|



    Hence why I swore never to buy anything made by Apple.

    So I'm speaking on the scale of the iPod on the previous post--ignoring the thought that you could get something that's half the price of an iPod with about the same specs...IF you're really eager to hunt for that product. Aside from the customer service, I'm pretty sure there are a bunch more reasons for people to fall into the Apple scheme. Heck, there are suckers out there who swears by it, so I'd like to hear some feedback from an actual Apple user here rather than me trying to reason out why it's such a huge fad.


    EDIT: this reminded me of that one xkcd comic

    Posted Image

    Edited by Lallard, 02 December 2010 - 07:31 PM.


    #35 Ambition

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 08:56 PM

    Hence why I swore never to buy anything made by Apple.

    So I'm speaking on the scale of the iPod on the previous post--ignoring the thought that you could get something that's half the price of an iPod with about the same specs...IF you're really eager to hunt for that product. Aside from the customer service, I'm pretty sure there are a bunch more reasons for people to fall into the Apple scheme. Heck, there are suckers out there who swears by it, so I'd like to hear some feedback from an actual Apple user here rather than me trying to reason out why it's such a huge fad.


    EDIT: this reminded me of that one xkcd comic

    Posted Image


    That comic strip is so spot-on.

    #36 iargue

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 08:58 PM

    Here is a link to my review of the iPhone 4.



    And?

    #37 ilovepolkadots

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 09:29 PM

    Cheapest way to get texas instrument graphing calculators:

    Go into my university
    Wait till 8:00 PM
    Pick up the 2 calculators left behind from all the lecture halls that require these calculators
    pawn
    profit


    even better - volunteer for the end of the year shift in the Chem labs and heist the Lost and Found box
    10+ graphing calculators easy ;3

    #38 kuwaz

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 11:08 PM

    If you had a functional brain you wouldn't buy Apple anyways.
    You would be running hackintosh right now.

    Paying premium makes sense for things that are actually GOOD.
    Like paying $1 for 1 piece of sushi or $5 for 1 piece of sashimi,
    yes they really do taste much better.

    Buying Apple is paying more for something that is worse, but
    still somehow end up thinking its better?

    I've said this already, if you bought Apple, you deserve it.

    #39 Seaner

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 11:23 PM

    keep buying your peasant-tier HP/Dell/whatever laptops guise. i know i'm lookin cooler than all of you when i sit in starbucks.




    posted from my macbook pro.

    #40 kuwaz

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    Posted 02 December 2010 - 11:29 PM

    I actually have a Macbook and iPod touch.
    Not because I wanted one, the program required it.

    Other than banking and in class, I never even touch my Macbook.
    The only use I found for it is to read GameFAQs while I'm gaming
    on my custom box.

    Two pluses about Apple laptops: they lighter and battery lasts longer.

    Other than that? Slow work flow, 1990s interface, missing very basic
    functions, freezes more than any computer I have ever owned. How
    can people stand this finder shit? Explorer might crash but at least
    it gets work done. Finder is the most backward program ever written.

    Anyways, I'm loving my 12G of ram and opening 100 RAWs at a time.

    ---

    Using a Mac is kind of like someone telling you:

    "Hey, this is Linux light, try it."

    "PSYCHE!"

    Edited by channel_49, 02 December 2010 - 11:31 PM.


    #41 Ambition

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    Posted 03 December 2010 - 08:59 AM

    keep buying your peasant-tier HP/Dell/whatever laptops guise. i know i'm lookin cooler than all of you when i sit in starbucks.




    posted from my macbook pro.


    Hipster. :p

    #42 Hurricane

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    Posted 03 December 2010 - 09:19 AM

    I think the 130 I paid for my calculator was well worth it considering I cheated on tests for the last 6 years using it. Everything from chem/physics formulas to trig/geometry + calculus.

    #43 Faval

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    Posted 03 December 2010 - 09:29 AM

    I think the 130 I paid for my calculator was well worth it considering I cheated on tests for the last 6 years using it. Everything from chem/physics formulas to trig/geometry + calculus.


    I remember that, kids were cheating and loading formulas and stuff into their calculator and the teachers don't even bother to check. I also remember the graphic calculator games :p

    Anyway they have a monopoly on it and they have a supply and demand generated from schools so it's easy to understand why the price hasn't dropped over the years. I'm surprised the price hasn't actually gone up with inflation...well it did go up by like 20 bucks from when I bought mine for 110.

    And as far as Apple goes, whatever they're doing, they're doing it right...at least for now.

    Edited by Faval, 03 December 2010 - 09:31 AM.


    #44 Lallard

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    Posted 03 December 2010 - 05:35 PM

    I think the 130 I paid for my calculator was well worth it considering I cheated on tests for the last 6 years using it. Everything from chem/physics formulas to trig/geometry + calculus.


    Collegeboard outsmarts some high school students by banning graphing calculators on their calculus test. Half the people way back in my high school relied on their $100+ TI-89s that without it they felt helpless when it comes to solving problems.

    #45 Lucif3r

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    Posted 04 December 2010 - 01:25 AM

    I believe its the relationship between demand and supply. Like what Mishelle said, we are forced to buy it for school activities and some other areas that do not allow you to use a computer


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