Okay, so throughout undergrad, got by with a $20 casio in exams, used matlab/numpy/octave/even put wolphram alpha on my phone, is the TI calculators that big of a deal outside of high school? I get the appeal of having an obviously non-networked device that can aid in calculations, some of the toughest exams I wrote were "open textbook", where people still got creative of printing out old exam solutions, and preferred courses that had a "final project". I also get why the iPod pilot programs are in the works, as not only are the companies able to sell the devices at a bulk rate to schools, they are able to get students used to iPod as their aid of choice, there will be an upgrade program similar to PCs in the schools, and the schools are able to be viewed as ahead of the curve, but still maintain locks on what the devices can, and can not do. In the end, I guess I just share the sentiment of the author, where "how the hell is this still happening?" when I can do insane things on a raspberry pi for under $50.