Texas Instruments is credited with inventing the handheld calculator in 1967. In 1990 they released the TI-81, their first graphing calculator. While they were not the first to produce a graphing calculator, they quickly became a leader.

Most of the TI-8x series caculators are built on the Zilog Z80 micoroprocessor, the same chip that powers systems like the Sega Mastersystem, Game Gear, Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80, and the Sinclair ZX series. The TI-86 was introduced in 1996. Like many of the TI-8x series, it supports user-installed software in both TI-BASIC and Z80 Assembly Language. An extensive underground market developed among students sharing bootleg ports of games such as Super Mario Brothers and Tetris.

While the technology is arguabley obsolete, the TI-8x calculators remain widely used in algebra and caluculus classes, in part because they are among the few calculators authorized for use in college entrance exams.