The Verge's Version History to Examine TI Graphing Calculator 'Hidden Monopoly'
The Verge's Version History podcast will examine how Texas Instruments' graphing calculators came to dominate classrooms, with David Pierce, Nilay Patel and Victoria Song.
The episode is the second of the fifth season of Version History, which is returning to a back-to-school theme. The season has already covered The Oregon Trail, the computer-lab game that many students encountered. Over the next few weeks, the podcast will also discuss One Laptop Per Child, Chromebook, LeapPad and the overhead projector.
In the forthcoming episode, Patel and Song recount their memories of their iconic and expensive calculators, The Verge said. The episode also tells the story of TI graphing calculators and the market position Texas Instruments built and retained.
The Verge said subscribers can get Version History and its other podcasts without ads by visiting account settings. The report also pointed readers to additional material on TI graphing calculator history: a Washington Post article titled 'The unstoppable TI-84 Plus: How an outdated calculator still holds a monopoly on classrooms'; a New York Times article about a state adding a tool for eighth-grade math; and a ProMarket article, 'TI's Calculator Monopoly Offers Lessons for Educators in the Age of Generative AI.'
The Verge's article was published on September 20, 2026. It does not provide a specific release date for the next episode beyond describing it as upcoming.