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"Raise your hand if you have ever used a Texas Instruments (TI) graphing calculator.\nThe mathematic and scientific tool is easily the most popular name in modern calculators. If you scan the list of Amazon's bestselling graphing calculators, you'll see that TI models usually take the top three spots.\nSee also: 6 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Your Graphing Calculator\nBut how has one brand managed to keep such a hold on the calculator industry? Let's start from the beginning. \nTI: A history\n\nA handheld TI calculator from 1972. Image: Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments was originally founded in 1951 to build seismographs for oil exploration. Looking for new ways to diversify in 1964, the company set out to create a handheld instrument that could solve mathematical equations. By 1967, it had invented the very first handheld calculator, which could perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. \nTeachers quickly became fans of the product. In 1986, the state of Connecticut sent a request to TI for 10,000 calculators. Once TI saw the widespread interest within education, it latched onto the field.\n\"[TI employees] actually went out and found educators who were really trying to push the boundaries in terms of technology and what students could learn from it,\" Gayle Mujica, TI's director of worldwide marketing for the Education Technology department, tells Mashable. \"They also said, 'Help us help other teachers understand how to use these products.'\"\nA math major in college, Mujica used to work in the computer lab, where helping students use TI products was among her various tasks.\nThe company invented its first graphing calculator, the TI-81, in 1990 \u2014 though, competitors Casio and Hewlett-Packard beat TI to the punch in 1985 and 1986, respectively. But educators switched to the TI-81 in the classroom due to a couple of factors: It had the ability to work with up to four functions at the same time, and it stuck closely to the design of Casio's original graphing calculator, the fx-7000G, to help people ease into using the product.\nTeachers using the product even created a newsletter, which TI actively supported, on how to integrate the calculator into the classroom, helping to spread the word and appeal of the gadget.\n\nTI graphing calculators throughout the years. Image: MashableThe education model\nTI has remained one of the classroom's top products by providing a full support system, according to Peter Balyta, president of TI's worldwide Education Technology division. He's worked at the company for 14 years, nabbing the presidential title in February 2014. \n\"If you were to come in our building today, or any of our offices around the world, you would see actual teachers somewhere,\" Balyta tells Mashable. He means that TI is dedicated to providing educators with resources on how to use TI technology properly. \nThe education department offers teachers all over the world the opportunity to receive \"professional development\" through TI's T3 program, which the company started 25 years ago. Balyta describes professional development as a training session on how to \"effectively use our technology when teaching math and science ... to create an engaging environment around some difficult-to-teach concepts.\" \nThe T3 program also provides teachers with workshops, online courses and webinars, and it gives students various resources, such as exam prep and software. There's even a borrowing system for teachers who want to get their hands on a calculator quickly for a workshop or conference.\nToday, teachers across the country recommend TI graphing calculators to their students. For example, certain schools in New York, Virginia, Tennessee and California all put TI calculators on their school supply lists. \nChallenges at the top\nBeing a popular calculator manufacturer doesn't come without its difficulties, and for TI, the price point is one of the main disadvantages. To get your hands on a newer model, such as the TI-Nspire Handheld with a Touchpad, it will cost you between $149.99 and $172.99.  Even older models, like the TI-84 Plus, cost around $100.\nAs technology has rapidly evolved, some of these math equations can be done with an app on your trusty smartphone, which is a much cheaper alternative than a TI calculator (though, it should be noted that TI does offer an iPad app with its TI-Nspire line).\nHowever, think back to the classroom and testing experience. Smartphones aren't allowed, which makes outsider tools a necessity. Standardized tests also come with strict rules about which calculators students can use. These rules allow calculator companies to remain powerful and relevant, and helps them keep their prices up, according to The Atlantic.\nMujica counters that by saying TI customers get more than just a calculator. They get a \"total solution,\" which includes free resources like tutorials, professional development, upgrades and customer support. \n\"Once you purchase one [calculator], we commit to giving you upgrades,\" Balyta adds. \"The operating system, new functionality \u2014 you can continue to upgrade those handhelds [and] the software you purchase for your computer free of charge.\"\nDedication in the classroom\n\nPeter Balyta speaking at the 2014 T3 Conference.Image: Courtesy of Peter BalytaTI also seeks to improve education by promoting high-tech classrooms. One example is in Florida's Sarasota County, where some of the schools in the district have created \"tech-active\" classrooms. Instead of desks, students are set up at round tables, and a touchscreen computer is placed in the middle. The teachers have \"active boards,\" which connect to each of these computers. \nWhen Sarasota County Middle School first received funding for these classrooms, it immediately identified TI as the perfect tech partner, says Page Dettman, the school's executive director of middle school education. \n\"It enables our kids to get a deeper understanding of abstract concepts,\" she tells Mashable. TI not only had great graphing calculators for the students, but it also provided software and navigators, she explains. Teachers can connect to the calculators via the computers and active boards, sending students activities and projecting their calculations. \nThe school started integrating tech-active classrooms for courses such as eighth-grade science or math, and by 2015, the entire middle school will be tech-active \u2014 the first of its kind. It's compliant with a new law that says by 2015, all Florida schools must use digital materials during half of all classroom instruction.\nA family heirloom\nThough it's busy securing its future, TI has also left behind a fairly indelible footprint. \nIf you ever went through the American education system, you likely still have an old TI calculator hanging around your house. Or perhaps, after using it on tests for years, you gave it to your little brother. That's due in part to the company's quality standards, which maintains that each calculator should last at least 20 years. \n\"I think I still own every graphing calculator I ever owned,\" Balyta says. \"I\u2019ve kept every single one of them. Don\u2019t ask me why; there\u2019s an emotional attachment to them, I guess.\"\nAnd it's that emotional attachment that keeps users coming back with each new decade. \n\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/03/ti-calculator-evolution/>