Texas Instruments' Two-Decade Grip on Student Calculator Market
Source: The Verge
Texas Instruments maintains a near-monopoly on graphing calculators by embedding the TI-84 into standardized curricula and college entrance exams. Schools face prohibitive switching costs because textbooks and test prep materials are built around the device's specific interface and functionality, despite superior alternatives existing for years. The company charges $100+ for hardware that could cost a fraction of that. Institutional inertia and exam board dependency have proven more durable than technological disruption, even as smartphones and free software could replace the physical device.