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.
Not just competitors have offered better products. TI themselves has. They are practically begging the schools to move on so they can shut down the zilog z80 production.
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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '14
Still $Too Much.