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Math

A Calculator's Most Important Button Has Been Removed (theatlantic.com) 100

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Apple's latest iOS update has removed the "C" button from its Calculator app, replacing it with a backspace function. The change, part of iOS 18, has sparked debate among users accustomed to the traditional clear function. The removal of the "C" button represents a significant departure from decades-old calculator design conventions, The Atlantic writes. From the story: The "C" button's function is vestigial. Back when calculators were commercialized, starting in the mid-1960s, their electronics were designed to operate as efficiently as possible. If you opened up a desktop calculator in 1967, you might have found a dozen individual circuit boards to run and display its four basic mathematical functions. Among these would have been an input buffer or temporary register that could store an input value for calculation and display. The "C" button, which was sometimes labeled "CE" (Clear Entry) or "CI" (Clear Input), provided a direct interface to zero out -- or "clear" -- such a register. A second button, "AC" (All Clear), did the same thing, but for other parts of the circuit, including previously stored operations and pending calculations. (A traditional calculator's memory buttons -- "M+," "M-," "MC" -- would perform simple operations on a register.)

By 1971, Mostech and Texas Instruments had developed a "calculator on a chip," which condensed all of that into a single integrated circuit. Those chips retained the functions of their predecessors, including the ones that were engaged by "C" and "AC" buttons. And this design continued on into the era of pocket calculators, financial calculators, and even scientific calculators such as the ones you may have used in school. Some of the latter were, in essence, programmable pocket computers themselves, and they could have been configured with a backspace key. They were not.

A Calculator's Most Important Button Has Been Removed More | Reply

A Calculator's Most Important Button Has Been Removed

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  • Not surprising (Score:3)

    by ZERO1ZERO ( 948669 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:29PM (#64882011)
    In my experience of a few decades, almost no-one knows the difference between C and AC. Even after itâ(TM)s explained when they ask if they do, why there 2 clear buttons.

  • The most important button on a calculator (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:36PM (#64882037)

    is the Enter key

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      Followed by the xy button.

    • Re:The most important button on a calculator (Score:4, Funny)

      by Waffle Iron ( 339739 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:50PM (#64882099)

      I mainly use a nice RPN calculator on my phone. It's vastly superior to regular infix calculators, especially when you know how to manipulate the stack and set it to show several values.

      I took a look because I never really thought about the fact that it lacks a normal clear button. It has a backspace, which clears the last typed character, or if the top-of-stack is a calculation result, sets the whole register to zero (never realized that feature). It also has a clear stack (similar to AC), and a "drop" to get rid of the top value.

      • Re:The most important button on a calculator (Score:4, Informative)

        by caseih ( 160668 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @06:20PM (#64882633)

        I ruined myself years ago with RPN. I cannot use simple calculators because I'm constantly losing numbers. Very annoying. I've tried a variety of RPN-style calculator apps. I always come back to Droid48, a HP 48 emulator.

        Very much off-topic now, but my real HP 48 is nearly 30 years old now, and is starting to have issues with foam deteriorating and not pressing hard enough on the keyboard ribbon connector. I ordered a non-working HP 48 on ebay to see if I can figure out how to open it up without destroying it. iFixit scale on the HP 48 would be 1/10 I think. Apple can only dream of a device less fixable. Some day someone will do a modern recreation of the original HP 48 complete with that awesome button feel. I can dream.

        • If you've not already seen it, hpmuseum.org has guides for disassembling the HP48, but all of them are destructive in some manner. Mine was starting to have trouble with the top row and I was about to bite the bullet and disassemble it (or replace with a Swiss Micros calculator), but for whatever reason started working correctly again a few weeks ago. I'll call myself lucky for the moment.

          I recently decided to go back to University and one of the classes I'm taking has a rule prohibiting graphing or pr

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by caseih ( 160668 )

            I press with my thumb above the B and C keys and that usually does the trick but it's annoying.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        I prefer calculators where you can lay out the whole equation and edit it, simply because if you want to change something you don't have to go through all the steps of entering it again.

        One of the best I ever used was a Casio fx-CG20, because it has an engineering mode where the function keys are mapped to SI units. Very handy for doing electronics work. The result would be displayed with SI units too. Sadly very few calculators have that.

    • RPN ftw, and Apple's desktop (but not iOS, or at least I can't find it) calculator has it.

  • Can still clear everything ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:38PM (#64882049)

    From TFA:

    ... the iPhone’s “AC” button remains. When no value sits in the input buffer awaiting its desired mathematical operation, the [backspace] button changes to “AC.” The ability to destroy all local mathematics remains, at least for now.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      > The ability to destroy all local mathematics
      Sounds like a horror movie plot in which a super villain destroys science.

  • I use Gforth as a calculator https://gforth.org/ [gforth.org] .

    When my computer boots up, I have it automatically pop up a terminal window running Gforth so it is always available for a quick calculation:

    ok 2.0e pi f* f. 6.2832

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      Now we are into something interesting.

    • Thats pretty cool, but why not just use wcalc, or a built in tool like bc?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        Well, Forth is Turing Complete, and the built in calculators aren't.

        • Forth and 16KB of RAM and you can send a man to the moon!

        • Right. You can use Gforth as a calculator, and segue into programming. Here's a trivial program to sum numbers:

          fclearstack
          1.0e 2.0e 3.0e 4.0e 5.0e ok f:5
          : SumFloatStack
          0 begin
          \ while float stack depth not zero
          fdepth 1 > while
          \ Add two values on the floating point stack
          f+
          repeat
          drop ;
          SumFloatStack
          f. 15.

          • Superfluous stack item removed:

            fclearstack
            1.0e 2.0e 3.0e 4.0e 5.0e ok f:5
            : SumFloatStack
            begin
            fdepth 1 > while
            f+
            repeat ;
            SumFloatStack
            f. 15.

  • To run a server that does only one thing. Once we found that we didn't need a cloud service that cleared the input buffer, we just eliminated the skeuomorph. You'll still have the backspace ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H delete key.

  • Alternately press and hold delete (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Need "C" back? Press and hold delete for about a second FTW.

    • Hmm, only in the exam the kid has no "delete key" on the approved calculator they MUST use.

      They have a CE or C button and are lost.

      Interfaces like this are standard for a reason, to be THE SAME allways.

  • This is newsworthy?

  • And Apple's redesign is inferior (Score:5, Insightful)

    by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:46PM (#64882089)
    And Apple's redesign is inferior. All three buttons are useful.

    [BS], backspace, operates on individual digits and operators
    [C] clear, operates on operands (collections of digits) and operators
    [CA] clear all, operates on the entire pending expression (all operands and operators)

    You might want to do any of the following depending on the nature of a typo, consider "12 + 34"

    [BS]: "12 + 3"
    [BS][BS]: "12 +"
    [BS][BS][BS]: "12"
    [BS][BS][BS][BS]: "1"
    [BS][BS][BS][BS][BS]:""

    [C]: "12 +"
    [C][C]: "12"
    [C][C][C]: ""

    [CA]: ""

  • That's kind of an weird and inconsistent change, considering that Apple's computer keypads have a Clear key. That convention goes as far back as the Apple Lisa in 1983, if not further.

    On USB keyboards it is the same key as Num Lock on PC but interpreted differently. Microsoft in its Apple-envy even added a separate Clear key to some of its own keyboards even though that one isn't normally supported by MS-Windows and requires a driver.

  • 80085 (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    80085

  • The Atlantic got it wrong (and the Slashdot editor just went with it) but "C" is not the most important button. I don't know which button is, but the "1" button is more important that "C". A power cycle will substitute for a "C" button but you won't get far with a missing "1". "2". "3", "4", etc. are more important that "C" too.

  • Samsung's calculator app on Android has only backspace.

  • But, progress, maaan *inhales* (Score:3)

    by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @04:17PM (#64882195)

    But, progress, maan. *inhales and keeps it in*

    What, you gonna do what those pale stale males did 60 years ago? Get wiiith it maaan.. *inhales*

    Yeaaah. All that progress for progress' sake, never stopping to think that sometimes holding on to what was is better than being a bleeding-edge radical.

    I thought change and progress was this group's bag, no? Is this suddenly too much?

    Make up your minds. Keep it as it was, or move fast and break everything.

  • As I am prone to âoefat-fingeringâ a digit or 2, this seems more intuitive to me than a âoeCâ button

    • As I am prone to âoefat-fingeringâ a digit or 2, this seems more intuitive to me than a âoeCâ button

      You definitely need to work on that problem... or use a device with a bigger keyboard, maybe?

  • You insenstive clod! (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @04:35PM (#64882255)

    All I have is this stinkin' slide rule.

  • I bought HiperCalc Pro and it keeps getting significant new features. My kids use it too for their advanced math classes and prefer it to a TI.

    A good blend of traditional calculator and phone capabilities.

    cz.hipercalc.pro on Android - maybe iPhone people can get it too.

    It's just nice to see small developers still making great software.

  • Or innovation by imbeciles
  • I've been an HP calc user for half a century, love using RPN instead of Algebraic input method. I looked at my HP-11C and confirm that it uses a left arrow key for CLEAR or DEL function.
    • Ugh, should have kept editing... Anyway, I was going to continue by saying I installed an app called RealCalc from Google Play store that implements RPN logic, and it too employs a left arrow key (large red key with white arrow) to properly simulate the HP experience.

  • Some of the latter were, in essence, programmable pocket computers themselves, and they could have been configured with a backspace key. They were not.

    I have a 1990s HP48G somewhere. It has both a backspace and a delete key. If you want clear you have to hit shift. I also have a Casio CFX-9800. It's got a backspace and an AC button but no C.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      Yea but it also uses the much superior RPN. This article is about peasant calculators. It's also wrong. They changed the calculator from dumb old basic calc (so 34, hit +, line clears and you enter 43 then =) to algebraic input (so 34+43 on one line), so backspace makes more sense. You can also long-press the backspace and it will clear the entire line like AC.

      Colossal tempest in a teapot clickbait as usual.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        The Casio isn't RPN. And I specifically quoted the article's claim about programmable calculators.

        Probably the author has never seen a calculator that wasn't an app or a dollar store version on their parents' desk, but the claim is specifically about all calculators, including sophisticated ones.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      Also your HP48G does have a C button. It's between the B and D buttons on the top row where it belongs :)
  • I still use my TI-89s (yes, plural), and take one with me on trips. Never use the âoeCâ functionality. Backspace FTW.
  • Change for change sake. And it's not even something done for marketing. So...?

  • As I first started reading, I was confused: doesn't the C clear everything? so replacing it with backspace makes no sense. Then I continued to read, and they described C and CE as functionally equivalent, as though this is universal. It's not: Many TI calculators use(d) C as their 'all clear' button, and CE as their 'clear entry' button.

  • Clickbait bullshit (Score:3)

    by EvilSS ( 557649 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @06:26PM (#64882651)
    They changed it because it makes more sense with the new algebraic input mode which keeps the calculations on one line until you hit equals. The old C would clear just the current term. Now it would clear the entire equation which would be annoying as hell and way less useful than backspace. Yes you could swipe to backspace previously but that wasn't well known and, again, it makes more sense to make the button's primary function to be backspace.

    Primary function you say? Oh, yea, one small detail: C isn't not gone. Long press backspace and poof! The entire line is gone.

  • Many scientific calculators did have a backspace, the newer WYSIWYG calculators even have cursor keys.

    I have an exact copy of my HP calculator (from HP) on my tablet, why would I care about Apple's little calculator? Who really uses the original calculator supplied with their device?

  • It's supposed to be idiot proof. They failed, but if you hold the backspace button for a second it will clear. Backspace might be more useful since this calculator is more powerful.

  • Math teacher here.

    I didn't notice this change when I updated until I saw it here, but I feel like this change is less useful.

    Before, one was able to press = repeatedly to repeat the previous operation, for example, powers of 2.

    You press 2 then x then = and it would give you 2^2
    Then you press = again and it gives you 2^3
    and so on. Helpful for a demonstration of recursion in sequences and series. Worked with +, / and - too.

    Now this is impossible. And I'm not sure what this change adds to the functionality?

  • Putting an HP48 emulator on my phone has brought be great joy. I see there is one for iOS as well so give it a whirl. Its both a fun blast from the past, and a chance to learn a tool from a previous era. there is a feeling of craftsmanship and nostalgia that makes it fun to use.

    • Yep. I happen to have a real HP 48GX too, various expansion cards, a thermal printer, and the rare overhead projector LCD accessory. Also, the SCSI/Sony CD PC audio cable improvised serial adapter cable too. There's no real point to carrying around extra things when your "pocket tricorder" can emulate or become other things. (Props to Bernard Parisse and his Erable, Xcas, and Giac.) (Also, I wish smartphones would include SDRs, chemical sensors, X-ray, and muon imaging sensors because we're losing the futur
  • To justify their existence, they break and change shit for no reason.

  • You know Apple, there is a reason why well-worn user interfaces and conventions become, you know, conventions.

    That’s because they are standard.

    It doesn’t matter about all the claptrap spouted about how a calculator works internally (note I didn’t say USED to work). The CE or C or AC or M buttons are standard UI elements that are needed. Why? For one main reason: standardisation.

    Why is that important?

    User friendliness.

    Apple, I think you need to cast your minds back to the days you were i

  • If your calculator has a dedicated '=' key its just a toy.

    #RPNForLife
    #ImOld

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