Well, at least in France, those expensive graphing calculators are mandatory in high school and later if you choose to study sciences.
Some of it is to avoid "cheating" (not using a computer during exams, a new "exam mode" was also recently mandated, with a flashing LED). But I am not sure why calculators are still that expensive today: https://xkcd.com/768/
That, while you can buy a linux-compatible processor for a few dollars, slap python or GNU Octave on it and call it a day.
I think it's in part due to the certification process taking quite a bit of time. Even new incumbents such as https://www.numworks.com/ have relatively poor specs at a high price by today's standards.
Yeah, that's what the "exam mode" is about: to lock down access to the calculator memory, and advanced funtionality like CAS. From what I read, it:
- Disables memory access or erases it
- Disables data transmission
- Lights an indicator
- Can't be disable without physically connecting another calculator or computer. I think some even beep.
Well, of course back then I did an extensive job of using the built-in memory for my "cheat sheets", even building programs with submenus for quick access, and some automated functionality. I don't feel like it really hindered me later. At least, it taught me more about programming :)
Some of it is to avoid "cheating" (not using a computer during exams, a new "exam mode" was also recently mandated, with a flashing LED). But I am not sure why calculators are still that expensive today: https://xkcd.com/768/
That, while you can buy a linux-compatible processor for a few dollars, slap python or GNU Octave on it and call it a day.
I think it's in part due to the certification process taking quite a bit of time. Even new incumbents such as https://www.numworks.com/ have relatively poor specs at a high price by today's standards.