TLDR Texas Instruments’ strong hold on the education market for graphing calculators has led to a near-monopoly, making it difficult for cheaper alternatives to gain traction, raising concerns about accessibility for lower income students.
Key insights
💰Texas Instruments graphing calculators are still expensive because they have a strong hold on the education market, despite the availability of cheaper alternatives.
📈The State of Connecticut’s order for 10,000 TI calculators in 1986 changed the course of education history.
💡The debate over the use of calculators in the classroom highlighted the tension between traditional learning methods and the potential for technology to enhance conceptual understanding.
💰Texas Instruments heavily backed the educational market for calculators, leading to a huge demand and debate over their use in classrooms.
📚Texas Instruments used their influence to push their products in the name of education, making TI machines the most comfortable choice.
📚The near-monopoly of TI calculators in schools has created a resistance to change, making it difficult for competing devices to gain traction.
💰Texas Instruments’ control of the calculator market raises concerns about accessibility for lower income students.
Highlights
📟00:00 Texas Instruments graphing calculators are ubiquitous and expensive due to their early entry into the market and unique capabilities.
📟01:03 Texas Instruments didn’t enter the graphing calculator market until 1990, but a large order from the State of Connecticut changed the course of education history.
💰02:05 Texas Instruments calculators are expensive due to the debate over their use in classrooms and the success of the Calculator and Computer Precalculus Project.
📱03:08 Texas Instruments became a major player in the educational calculator market in the late 1980s, leading to a huge demand for their products.
📱03:56 Texas Instruments based their TI-81 design on Casio’s, used their influence in education to push their products, and got their calculators featured in school textbooks.
📱05:06 Texas Instruments calculators have become a near-monopoly in schools and standardized testing, creating resistance to change and perpetuating the dominance of TI despite the availability of more capable alternatives.
💰06:01 Texas Instruments calculators are expensive due to minimal hardware changes, school requirements, market control, and the influence of money, marketing, and Texas Instruments.
📱06:40 Texas Instruments calculators are expensive because they have the most programs and are popular for hacking.
Why are Texas Instruments calculators so expensive?
Texas Instruments maintains high graphing calculator prices through market control, educational policy influence, and production cost markup.
The TI-84 Plus graphing calculator is ideal for high school math and science, engaging students with features like MathPrint™, which contributes to its higher cost.
The longevity of these $100 calculators being required in classrooms for over twenty years has also contributed to their sustained high prices.
How does Texas Instruments maintain high graphing calculator prices according to the article?
Texas Instruments maintains high graphing calculator prices through:
Market control
Educational policy influence
Production cost markup
The company also cultivates its product as the norm in classrooms, keeping its stronghold in the market with services like 1-800-TI-CARES and teacher workshops.
TI’s monopoly is reinforced by decades-long deals with high schools, textbook publishers, and minimal innovation in calculator technology .