Wasting Time and Money to "Enhance Learning"

I have nothing against Apple, Inc., believe me. But for a university to require students to purchase an iPhone or iTouch seems to be just another way that institutions of higher education are endorsing and forming partnerships with major corporations in a way that can affect student learning (e.g., Dell furnishing computer labs, Barnes & Noble running the bookstores). But it also suggests another way to bar access to education to those who come from lower-income families: those little items happen to cost a pretty penny, which not everyone who attends a university can necessarily afford after tuition, fees, room and board, textbooks, and basic living expenses. Also, why is the University of Missouri likely spending money and energy to have students install a program/application on such equipment? Also, why is the School of Journalism encouraging students to simply record lectures--making this format of teaching even more passive--rather than facilitating good notetaking habits, such as one might expect a journalist-in-training should learn and practice? I mean, recording an interview is certainly a norm, but recording professors' lectures? This smacks of laziness and gives students the idea that they don't really need to pay attention in class. One also wonders about the notion of academic integrity: what if students were to record and then sell their instructors' lectures to other students or other interested parties? I'm not assuming there's even an audience for this kind of thing, but given that some students have had the gall to keep in order to sell their exams, essays, etc., isn't the lecture-recording issue a problem of intellectual property as well? I would guess the professors at the University of Missouri subscribe to some principle that their students are welcome to record their lectures, but I know of quite a few faculty who might be rather uncomfortable with such an arrangement--for all the reasons I've mentioned and more.