It's always amazed me how, in 2018, TI calculators with software and hardware from 10 years ago still cost $100+ dollars [0] and command a near monopoly in US secondary schools (which, I suppose, is why they still cost that much). For that price you can get a significantly more powerful and functional mobile phone [1] (see 24K of ram vs. 2GB, 96x64 screen vs. 720 x 1280)!
The space needs competition, and I hope Numworks gives TI a run for their money (the calculator is even allowed on the big standard exams), but schools are so standardized on TI calculators (and generally slow-moving) that change will be hard. Casio has also tried to break into this space with significantly cheaper calculators (which are also allowed on standardized exams), but they have failed to gain significant traction so far.
embedded.fm recently had a great episode with the guy who hacked TI calculator protections. Apparently they could brute-force the keys required to build custom ROMs.
This isn't a technology issue. TI has a monopoly because they spent a lot of money going after the teachers. Teachers just want something that they know. They already don't get paid well and have a struggle just to get kids to learn the basic stuff. They just just want something that works and is well supported.
More like hardware from 20 years. Yeah I hope the TI monopoly gets broken. Numworks looks exactly like the calculator I was dreaming about when I was in uni.
I’ve been using both a Texas Instruments Nspire and an HP Prime, and I definitely find the latter to be preferable as it’s leaps and bounds beyond the former in terms of symbolic algebra.
Agree with you there. You may have habituated to TI-89s back at school (still have two) but by today's standards, graphics are super low-res and UI reminds you of trying to manipulate a rubik's cube. And yet it's still a goto on Amazon for about US$140.
The space needs competition, and I hope Numworks gives TI a run for their money (the calculator is even allowed on the big standard exams), but schools are so standardized on TI calculators (and generally slow-moving) that change will be hard. Casio has also tried to break into this space with significantly cheaper calculators (which are also allowed on standardized exams), but they have failed to gain significant traction so far.
A relevant XKCD (of course): https://xkcd.com/768/
A related piece of journalism: https://wapo.st/1Cl0Vyf
[0]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001EMM0G/
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H2E0KVA/