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The Reign of the $100 Graphing Calculator Required By Every US Math Class Is Finally Ending (engadget.com)
If you took a math class at some point in the US, there is likely a bulky $100 calculator gathering dust somewhere in your closet. Fast forward to today, and the Texas Instruments 84 -- or the TI 84-Plus, or the TI-89 or any of the other even more expensive hardware variants -- is quickly losing relevance. Engadget adds: Thanks to a new deal, they'll soon get a free option. Starting this spring, pupils in 14 US states will be able to use the TI-like Desmos online calculator during standardized testing run by the Smarter Balanced consortium. "We think students shouldn't have to buy this old, underpowered device anymore," Desmos CEO Eli Luberoff said. The Desmos calculator will be embedded directly into the assessments, meaning students will have access during tests with no need for an external device. It'll also be available to students in grades 6 through 8 and high school throughout the year. The calculator is free to use, and the company makes money by charging organizations to use it, according to Bloomberg.
They've had a good run of doing nothing and not updating their hardware or software in any kind of meaningful way for the past couple decades. No other company would have been so neglectful to such a profitable product line.
You don't understand, nor do those who upvoted you. TI has been updating their product lines all along, and that's the problem. What???!!?!?
The newer, better calculators have all sorts of wonderful features, like the ability to totally cheat in several ways. Ultimately, they can store text, so kids can put all kinds of stuff on there.
The TI-84 was basically the last calculator that they made which is good for helping students with calculation but not with cheating.
https://www.washingtonpost.com...
“We have to keep evolving on this platform, but it can’t be innovation for the sake of innovation,” said Peter Balyta, president of Texas Instruments’ calculator division. “While it’s tempting for us to build in WiFi, Bluetooth, audio, a camera, a whole bunch of things, we could do, but teachers don’t want us to. And it’s because we want to have a tool that kids can use in a classroom, on their way home, at home when they’re doing homework and also a tool they can bring in during their most important exam.”
That last line is the key.
This shouldn't be news here, by the way:
https://news.slashdot.org/stor...
Do you have ESP?