Calculators can be cool...kind of
With today's cumbersome backpacks, volumes of textbooks, and complicated school gadgets, it's not unusual to hear a teenager say something along the lines of, "But, Mom, I don't want to look like a total nerd!"
These teenagers should be thanking the guys at Hewlett-Packard, because they created a graphing calculator that doesn't look half-bad.
Credit: Hewlett-Packard
Sure, it's not as sleek as some of the gadgets targeted at the teen market lately, such as the Razr and brightly colored MP3 players. But if you need to have a calculator, you might as well get a semicool one--and by "cool" we mean the minimalist, silver-and-gray look.
The HP 39gs has some features you probably wouldn't expect from your average calculator. It has an infrared option to wirelessly share information with other HP devices. It can also easily connect with computers using its USB port. The gadget has room to store notes, equations and formulas, and a library of electronic notes containing problems, variables and graphs, so teens can have all their math data in one place. It even has a nifty double-screen option to view two different sets of information at once.
But really, whatever happened to good, old-fashioned note-taking I'm not so sure teens need this much complexity, as if school wasn't hard enough.
If you're still tempted, the calculator should hit the stores this fall, retailing for $79.99. It will be sold at HP.com, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other locations. Just don't expect this calculator to make you any friends, except maybe your math teacher.
