An interesting Washington
Post piece notes –
“In the ruthlessly
competitive world of technology, where companies rush the latest gadget to
market and slash prices to stay competitive, the TI-84 Plus is an anomaly.
Texas Instruments
released the graphing calculator in 2004, and continues to sell it today. The
base model still has 480 kilobytes of ROM and 24 kilobytes of RAM. Its
black-and-white screen remains 96×64 pixels. For 10 years its MSRP has been
$150, but depending on the retailer, today it generally sells for between $90
and $120. The only changes have come in software updates…
Electronics almost universally become cheaper over time. But with essentially a monopoly on graphing calculator usage in classrooms, Texas Instruments can charge a premium. Texas Instruments accounted for 93 percent of the U.S. graphing calculator sales from July 2013-June 2014.”
Electronics almost universally become cheaper over time. But with essentially a monopoly on graphing calculator usage in classrooms, Texas Instruments can charge a premium. Texas Instruments accounted for 93 percent of the U.S. graphing calculator sales from July 2013-June 2014.”