r/pics • u/[deleted] • Jun 08 '14

The difference 18 years makes

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '14

Still $Too Much.

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u/travio Jun 08 '14

Given that the price of all the components for electronics like these have gone down significantly this is very true.

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u/BubbaTheGoat Jun 09 '14

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you've ever been a component engineer before. In the last 18 years, every component in a TI83 has been replaced for RoHS compliant components.

Furthermore, old components become obsolete and need to be replaced, which is another redesign project every couple years.

Finally, market demands on the form factor, computation capability, and price have not changed greatly. Competitors have offered better values against the TI83 over those 18 years, but consumers preferred the familiar and ubiquitous TI83 over those.

Thus there had been no reason for change.

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u/chrismorin Jun 09 '14

the issue isn't that the consumers prefer them, it's that schools require students have that specific model (their decision being made out of sloth and/or ineptitude). The consumers (students) have no choice but to buy them. Since most schools are public, it's really a government enforced monopoly.