[rtkwe]

They are entrenched but there's also a lot of reasons that they've stuck around too beyond the inertia of the education system. Any alternative is fighting against a lot of we established training and knowledge. Teachers have been using them for years and the functions are well known and pretty easy to figure out.

TI graphing calculators just work in a way that will be really hard to match with more complex or newer devices like an Android Tablet running an app. The software has been ironed out over years of use and I can't remember ever causing a crash on my 83s or my 89. Plus there's no admin or reimaging required because anyone can go and reset the device to factory in a couple seconds before a test.

Don't discount their low power draw and instantly replaceable batteries either. TIs get weeks of use out of a pair of batteries and you know that they're getting low long before they run out so there's plenty of time to get replacement batteries. Compare that to any cheap Android tablet where 5 hours of active use kills it dead and it takes too much time to charge it back up before a test or class is over so you have to either a) replace it with a charged spare or b) get power to the kid's desk. That's a pretty big knock against having a pool of devices as an important component of testing or in class work.