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Apr 26

Soulver – math with language

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Soulver – Math with language

Normally: $19.95

ZOT Price: $4.95

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Maths on a Mac as it should be.

Soulver is a new kind of calculator application which uses a simple yet powerful word-processor style interface instead of the traditional “button” approach to doing math.

Main Features:
  • No equals button – Soulver instantly calculates as you type.
  • Multiple lines – Soulver lets you do math over multiple lines and edit previous expressions.
  • Flexible to words – Soulver doesn’t mind if you include words or labels between numbers.
  • Basic functions – Soulver includes every standard calculator function, like sin(), cos() & tan()
  • Clever English functions – Soulver includes some “English” math functions. For instance you can type “10% off $200″ and get $180
  • Floating palettes – Soulver’s answer & stats palettes will give you conversions and statistics on your work as your type
  • Save your work – like a word processor, Soulver allows you to save and reopen your work

9 Responses to “Soulver – math with language”

  1. MrStinkEye Says:
    April 26th, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Thanks MacZOT! I’ve been wanting this app for a while. Great offer, BTW.

  2. pendolino Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 12:10 am

    i dont get why a person would use this? for kids maybe but for any professional it really just slows you down unless you have a KG level of math proficiency.

    also the mistakes can be misleading for people that could believe fully in its answers as shown here and could cause heart attacks to some teachers when their students tell them how they got their results. check here for a demo: http://use.perl.org/~rjbs/journal/33654 with examples such as:

    ” Q: 2 squared
    A: 2
    ?: wrong!

    Q: square root of 2
    A: 1.414…
    ?: right!

    Q: cube root of 2
    A: 1.414…
    ?: wrong!”

    as with any other tool or convention, shortcuts and domain heuristics are what make for better efficiency and productivity and you dont get that by verbose equations.

  3. Nick Sloan Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 1:22 am

    I bought Soulver early on, because I personally find it to have easily the best interface on the Mac for doing sequential maths. For less than $5 it is a steal.

    I do however have one serious reservation: if you type your expression correctly, Soulver will always give you the right answer, but if you type an unresolvable expression, it will give you the wrong answer without alerting you.

    To give an obvious example 2 x (2+3 = 2
    Buried in a more complex expression, such errors would be far more difficult to spot, making Soulver untrustworthy unless you can trust your data entry 100%.

    I discussed this problem with the developers three years ago, but it still has not been addresses, and Soulver has not been updated at all in over two years.

    I really hope they come to grips with this and set it rolling again, because it still has the makings of a perfect computer calculator, and even in its present state I’d recommend a purchase (plus caution in use).

    (Incidentally, to answer the previous reviewer: square root/root/sqrt are inbuilt functions of Soulver—as can be learned in help, “squared” and “cube root” are not. Probably they should be, but any calculator demands that you use the correct functions. But I do agree that Soulver should not give the *wrong* answer when it does not understand the question.)

  4. MJ Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 1:46 am

    I understand the concerns above, however I do know the expressions to use on Soulver and I have been using it for 3 years now with no problems. And for this discount I would say its a very good purchase.

  5. gryphonent Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 2:13 am

    I thought this app went out of active development some two years ago.

  6. AK Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 5:01 am

    I agree with the previous poster: The latest version 1.4.4 is from March 2007. Until then there were frequent updates to Soulver. By no means the program is flawless to a point where no further updates are necessary. Is it still maintained and developed?

  7. Alan Hecht Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 5:38 am

    At under $5, this is a no brainer. I even bought it after only seeing the 20-second video. I wish other promo developers would see the benefit in offering a higher discount that could lead to more “off the fence” sales. I may not use this app much, but it will be nice to have it in my arsenal for when I do! Thanks, MacZot.

    And thanks to those who made the comments (above) to help me cautiously decide. Hopefully this influx of new registered owners will spur the dev to pick the app up again.

  8. Tommy Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 5:43 am

    I picked it up in a zot long ago. I use it nearly daily, when a spreadsheet would be overkill.

    I’d love to see new versions. And I too wish it dealt with words it didn’t know in some other way than ignoring them.

    But, hey, it’s five bucks.

  9. Ralph Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 6:16 am

    I am going to try using this to prepare tax forms. It seems quicker than setting up a spreadsheet. And like everyone else has said, it is only $5