I'll take a moment to digress for a moment about how I do understand the "true meaning of Christmas".  Having been raised Catholic I'm well aware that the day has been set aside to celebrate the birth of our Lord-Savior, that the giving of gifts in his name has been blown out of proportion and that half of the kids in the world that tear open presents under their respective trees have little idea about the stories around which the holiday is based.  I also believe that people should relax, enjoy themselves, and have something for which to look forward.  

For the past few years the Christmas season had become an exercise in routine.  A small glimmer of Christmas spirit would surface here and there as I shopped for the perfect gift for that special someone, but I seemed to lack that spark that had me counting down the days until Christmas morning.  Economists/marketing experts/people-with-not-a-whole-lot-else-to-do often speak of that one toy each year that people will kill each other over to quench their need to have the "gotta have" item.  The Cabbage Patch Kid of the eighties and the Tickle-Me Elmo of the nineties are a couple examples of this phenomenon.  I never quite held with that mindset; being an independent thinker, the thought of getting the one thing that everyone else had to have went against everything I held sacred.  

Strangely enough, the one thing that has had the power to restore some of the childlike excitement about the Christmas season is indeed just that--a thing.  My ultimate prize, a present I desire and have been keeping my eye on since its announcement six or so months ago:  the Nintendo DS.  Electronic beauty, handheld gaming bliss, a wealth of fun all wrapped up in a sleek, silver casing. I've read countless articles, visited many a website, discussed specifications with colleagues and store clerks and have researched every game scheduled for the device for the next year.  The official release date for the unit is November 21, 2004 and they're supposed to be quite difficult to get.  With some inside help at Target, my dream for this ultimate Christmas present should be a reality--the thought of which has me anxiously awaiting Christmas morning and excitedly unwrapping presents under the Christmas tree.  For the rest of the season we'll be decking the halls, singing carols, watching holiday films, shopping for friends and family, and reveling in the spirit.  The DS is coming to town--at least I won't have to worry about shooting an eye out.  

Possibly my expectations were a bit high when I opened up the package and quickly inserted the batteries and booted up the machine.  It would have been difficult for my expectations not to be, though.  I've owned my TI-85 since my Junior year of High School and over the years (10 of them!) have pushed the processor and OS of said machine to the limits of what it was designed to do.  I've programmed countless games, applications and tidbits to make life better and easier.  The calculator has been used as a PDA, a journal, a math tool, an entertainment device and a study aid.  So, needless to reiterate  but I reserve the right to do so, I had plenty of background to lead all of my thoughts toward this new calculator being everything from before and more--technology has definitely progressed over the last ten years.

As my tone indicates, I am less than impressed with the progression of technology over the past ten years when it comes to these machines.  The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition has more memory, a slightly faster processor and some pre-loaded applications not included with the TI-85.  In those instances, the TI-84 wins.  The most important parts, however, the pure functionality of the OS and the calculator's built-in applications pale in comparison to the TI-85 of ten years ago.  The OS would have to be the biggest detriment to the functionality of the calculator.  The TI-85 featured a very intelligent and sporty menu-based operating system.  The menu could be called up on any screen and did not interfere with the user's view of the job at hand.  The TI-84's menu system covers the entire screen, making many tasks, especially programming, cumbersome.  To make life more difficult, where on the TI-85 program and function commands could merely be typed onto the main screen and executed, the TI-84 lacks a lowercase alpha function, making such a feature impossible--all commands must be executed by menu.

I know the TI-84 is not marketed as the killer calculator of its time, that title is reserved for the TI-89 Titanium.  The TI-84 is designed to be a graphing calculator for high school, biology and chemistry students.  I also realize that 84 comes before 85 and thus would logically mean fewer features.  I also understand that the 84 needed to be able to communicate with both the 83 and the decidedly ancient 82 model.  I argue, however, that the science student's calculator does not have to have a weaker OS than a mathematics student's calculator. 

In conclusion, I will keep this new piece of technology and will continue to try and unravel its secrets.  Perhaps with time, this abnormal OS will grow on me and the TI-84 will supplant the TI-85 as my preferred device.  The features designed specifically for science curriculum may prove to be the machines number one redeeming factor.  Regardless, at a retail price of $129.99, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition will forever be an expensive calculator.