Who cares about the brand lock-in aspect of this story; that's exactly what I would expect. What about the mindset behind it? I defy someone to tell me how an expensive new laptop would have been even remotely useful to me for my degree in languages and literature. Typing up essays? Is that worth $2000 to someone living off part-time work and student loans?

When I was in university, I got by just fine with a PII desktop system that I had for years. Allowed me to check my e-mail and ran Office 97 fine. Now that I have a job, I have a more expensive computer that allows me to play games. Why on earth would I have needed an expensive laptop?

What does this mean?

The notebook initiative gives us an opportunity to use technology to support learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered learning environments. It is a window of opportunity for true innovation. Lenovo ThinkPad will be an excellent partner in our strategies to expand the learning environment of ISU.

What on earth is 'community-centred learning'? How does it help me write my paper on Tolstoy? Forcing students to buy laptops is so utterly arrogant; it's management droids buying into the latest hype.

You want to improve learning? How about making attendance mandatory? How about attacking plagiarism? How about reducing tuition fees? I had to work 20 hours a week to pay for my education; wouldn't those 20 hours have been better spent studying? Isn't that a bit more 'learner-centred'? Bah.

Is he part of the Raelians?

Perhaps he's cloned himself to be able to write so much groundbreaking code so quickly.