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Should Texas instruments be called a monopoly?

So, everyone has that good ol' TI-84 in a drawer somewhere. Does anyone remember their parents complianing about how expensive they were? Do you remember that 100-150$ pricetag?  In the USA, you are forced by most schools to have a graphing calculator once you start highschool. And most state tests require a Texas instruments calculator, or no calculator. You can't get the better and cheeper options from other companies, you have to get a TI calc, such as a TI-84. These calculators launched at about 120$ US, and have dropped little to none in the 16 years since it released, still going for around 100$. Since these calculators are required by the state, should TI be forced to drop their ridiculous profit margins on the 16 year old calculator, as well as with other models? This article from 6 years ago (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/09/02/the-unstoppable-ti-84-plus-how-an-outdated-calculator-still-holds-a-monopoly-on-classrooms/%3foutputType=amp)

Shows a estimate for cost to manufacture at 15-20 dollars, which results in around a 80% profit. Would this be considered a monopoly, since their calculators are required for state tests? I don't think their profit margins are ok, as they are taking advantage of the property who need their calculators.

 

Sorry for wall of text.

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24 minutes ago, TheTechWizardThatNeedsHelp said:

So, everyone has that good ol' TI-84 in a drawer somewhere. Does anyone remember their parents complianing about how expensive they were? Do you remember that 100-150$ pricetag?  In the USA, you are forced by most schools to have a graphing calculator once you start highschool. And most state tests require a Texas instruments calculator, or no calculator. You can't get the better and cheeper options from other companies, you have to get a TI calc, such as a TI-84. These calculators launched at about 120$ US, and have dropped little to none in the 16 years since it released, still going for around 100$. Since these calculators are required by the state, should TI be forced to drop their ridiculous profit margins on the 16 year old calculator, as well as with other models? This article from 6 years ago (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/09/02/the-unstoppable-ti-84-plus-how-an-outdated-calculator-still-holds-a-monopoly-on-classrooms/%3foutputType=amp)

Shows a estimate for cost to manufacture at 15-20 dollars, which results in around a 80% profit. Would this be considered a monopoly, since their calculators are required for state tests? I don't think their profit margins are ok, as they are taking advantage of the property who need their calculators.

 

Sorry for wall of text.

Pretty certain Casio make a Graphing calculator too...

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Just now, Lord Vile said:

Pretty certain Casio make a Graphing calculator too...

I mentioned how most schools and state tests require you to have a TI brand graphing calculator

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1 minute ago, TheTechWizardThatNeedsHelp said:

I mentioned how most schools and state tests require you to have a TI brand graphing calculator

Probably because it'd be too expensive to change to a different spec. Why change 100 calculators when you can just replace 5. 

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27 minutes ago, TheTechWizardThatNeedsHelp said:

In the USA, you are forced by most schools to have a graphing calculator once you start highschool. And most state tests require a Texas instruments calculator, or no calculator.

Certainly sounds like a monopoly, but one induced by the high schools/states. For public institutions this is normally resolved through having public tenders, the issue is that here the public institution actually isn't the consumer, the student is. You could draw parallels with software packages for certain courses (Matlab, Stata, ...) or even textbooks used in certain courses, although there it seems that either (i) we all pretty much accepted the monopoly, (ii) bought second handed, (iii) got a student licence, or (iv) cheated the system by getting unlimited free trial by pretending to be a "new" customer.

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3 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

Probably because it'd be too expensive to change to a different spec. Why change 100 calculators when you can just replace 5. 

These things could happened in phases, i.e. from this year all high schoolers will buy a Casio instead of a TI with new notes/slides being used when that class get's to a certain level (becomes more complicated if students in the US are allowed to have senior courses when they are still a junior or something like that.)

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2 minutes ago, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

These things could happened in phases, i.e. from this year all high schoolers will buy a Casio instead of a TI with new notes/slides being used when that class get's to a certain level (becomes more complicated if students in the US are allowed to have senior courses when they are still a junior or something like that.)

The US school system is retarded. When they have "college" courses in schools which are nowhere near the standard of university. 

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2 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

The US school system is retarded. When they have "college" courses in schools which are nowhere near the standard of university. 

I'm offended. Im not saying you are wrong, but im offended.

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3 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

The US school system is retarded. When they have "college" courses in schools which are nowhere near the standard of university. 

You could flip that around and wonder why the 100-level courses need to be thought at uni though, always seemed like a cash-grab on the universities' part to me.

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21 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

Pretty certain Casio make a Graphing calculator too...

I had their graphing calculator. It worked just the same. 

I just want to sit back and watch the world burn. 

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6 minutes ago, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

You could flip that around and wonder why the 100-level courses need to be thought at uni though, always seemed like a cash-grab on the universities' part to me.

Don't have them here either, GCSE, A-Level or their equivalent BTEC courses then Uni staright into a "Major" rather than wasting a year. 

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Making profit on hardware is a monopoly, huh. 

Not their fault that schools tend to choose TI calculators.

In any case, why the hell do people take calculator arguments to heart?

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I don't think you understand what monopoly means. Could be cartel if they teamed with other manufacturers to keep prices high on purpose. TI isn't and ever hasn't been only manufacturer of high end calculators, and prices of the high-end stuff have always been, well, high.

 

TI wasn't even first on the market. They were 4th. But just like Apple, they made something that was appealing to markets.

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5 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

I don't think you understand what monopoly means. Could be cartel if they teamed with other manufacturers to keep prices high on purpose. TI isn't and ever hasn't been only manufacturer of high end calculators, and prices of the high-end stuff have always been, well, high.

 

My point was if they would be considerd a monopoly, since they are required, and cheeper, better preforming brands are not alowed, such as Casio.

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No.  Just because X is expensive and required doesn't mean X is a monopoly.

 

From USLegal.com:

 

Monopoly is a control or advantage obtained by one entity over the commercial market in a specific area. Monopolization is an offense under federal anti trust law. The two elements of monopolization are (1) the power to fix prices and exclude competitors within the relevant market. (2) the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power as distinguished from growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen or historical accident.

A market condition in which there is only one seller and one buyer is called a bilateral monopoly. A situation where one buyer controls the market is called monopsony.

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Just now, gabrielcarvfer said:

Cartel/collusion. Why would you ever need a graphing calculator in high school? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Even in college I've only used it a few times, for tests that required a ton of coordinate system transformations, complex numbers, etc.

Graphing? 

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1 minute ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Who buys a graphing calculator to graph? Come on. Just do it by hand interpolating a few points.

High schoolers? I have to graph a lot, but not show work.

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7 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Who buys a graphing calculator to graph? Come on. Just do it by hand interpolating a few points.

Quite right.  No better way than to do it via a hands on method.  Everyone is looking for the easy way out!  Kids are so spoiled these days.

 

Back when I had to take quantitative chemical analysis as an undergrad, we only had access to five place logarithms as this was the pre-calculator age (1967).  Endless pages of additions and subtractions for triplicate samples. For quick calculations on exams, we all had our trusty Dietzgen slide rules.  When my daughter was in high school I challenged her to a contest to see who could solve a chain match problem faster (she was using the required TI-84.  I won by ten seconds.

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I feel like, if it wasn't for the fact that we can't bring a smartphone in a school exam, dedicated calculators(scientific and graphic) would've died off long ago for most people.

 

Considering Casio also makes a graphic calculator, and I can find at least a few other brands I've never heard of on Amazon with a graphing calculator for sale, for dirt cheap in comparison to TI, I'd say they don't have a monopoly. It's just that they are the most well known and schools mostly recommend them to their students. (Dunno if the Casio has exam modes and shit like that)

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1 hour ago, TheTechWizardThatNeedsHelp said:

My point was if they would be considerd a monopoly, since they are required, and cheeper, better preforming brands are not alowed, such as Casio.

 

Not how monopoly works. Also you are talking about very area/country/state specific situation. Are TI models really only ones accepted? Or just graphical calculators with certain specs?

 

Reading your linked article, I can understand why this is confusing. The article talks about "monopoly" as figurative term, not actual one. In there monopoly is used as means of describing big market share. Something similar to what Windows OS had 20 years ago. Nowhere in the article it says TI would be only option. Just that its easy way, for everyone as teachers are only taught to use those. And they don't have energy or interest to look out for alternatives.

 

Its quite different situation here where our college math teacher would personally help everyone to get their model of choice to work.

 

16 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

 (Dunno if the Casio has exam modes and shit like that)

Don't know that either. I remember we had to reset it before taking standard exams. That Casio has served me well for 15 years now.

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8 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

 

Reading your linked article, I can understand why this is confusing

I gave the artical for the cost to manufacture, not the monopoly.  A friend of mine was forced to use a school TI for a state test, instead of his Casio. I agree with @Lord Blue of Screenshire, in the fact that the monopoly is caused by the schools/state, and not the company itself. I guess it is a monopoly, without monopolistic practices, in that they have sole power, but their practices are just greedy, and not monopolistic.

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please, pm me if you would like to contribute to my gpu bios database (includes overclocking bios, stock bios, and upgrades to gpus via modding)

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prior build:

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What state do you live in that requires a calculator like that for a high school test?

When I was in high school they didn't have any state tests besides the SAT's, and it was encouraged to not use a calculator. In fact I do believe you were not allowed to use one, but I could be wrong because I just filled in all the middle bubbles. 
<- High school flunky that ended up successful in life.

 

Now a good example of a monopoly would be how our electrical system works.

Here in Ca., If you are in So Cal, and you want electricity, you are forced to buy your electricity through So Cal Edison. There are no other options.
You can try solar, but it is very rare to have enough space for enough panels to run a single family home on just solar alone, and you will still be tied into So Cal Edison's grid.

On good days you might even be able to sell them some of your electricity, but most days not.


That is a monopoly where you have no choice but to buy from 1 company. 
Same thing goes with cable, but they get away with it through the loop hole that each region has a different company, therefore there is not just 1 supplier in the state. if you have Cox and want Xfinity, you have to move to their region.  

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25 minutes ago, bondoao1 said:

What state do you live in that requires a calculator like that for a high school test?

Romulus High School Class of 2006 (Michigan). We were required to have a graphing calculator. Im pretty sure the same is with every school in this state. I forget what math course it was, but one of them. Maybe algebra? 

 

26 minutes ago, bondoao1 said:

hen I was in high school they didn't have any state tests besides the SAT's,

Each year we had the MEAP test. It was for issuing funding for the schools. So if we bombed it the schools lost funding. 

 

27 minutes ago, bondoao1 said:

So Cal Edison.

Power companies are LEGAL monopolies because generally they are HEAVILY regulated by the states. 

 

28 minutes ago, bondoao1 said:

You can try solar, but it is very rare to have enough space for enough panels to run a single family hom

Ummm. You know they generally put those on the roof. Check out @paulshardware channel because he had them installed. 

 

 

I just want to sit back and watch the world burn. 

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4 hours ago, TheTechWizardThatNeedsHelp said:

I'm offended. Im not saying you are wrong, but im offended.

Lol I just think it’s dumb how the system works there, it makes very little sense and the about of electives there are at unis is stupid. It just looks like a pick and mix degree rather than a structured course to prepare you with the knowledge for work after the degree. 

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5 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

The US school system is retarded. When they have "college" courses in schools which are nowhere near the standard of university. 

No those courses are generally more geared towards Community College. Which are easier to graduate from. Universities are a whole different animal. The way the smart people do it, they take a majority of classes at a community college and transfer credits to a university. Thats how you spend less. Yeah, its pretty dumb. 

 

Community colleges are more for associates degrees and maybe other types of "training" 

 

Universities are for real degrees, Bachelors, Masters, PHD, etc. 

I just want to sit back and watch the world burn. 

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