“UNIVAC: a device, which contained 20,000 vacuum tubes, occupied 1,500 square feet and weighed 40 tons; there was also a laptop version weighing 27 tons.” -Dave Barry
Laptop bans, however, don’t make you pay attention. They just force you to be more creative. Daydreaming has long been a popular classroom activity. Cell phones, especially these days, provide just as many outlets as a laptop does. My personal favorite, the college newspaper crossword puzzle, was so popular in my undergrad that I had a few professors who tried to ban that.
I wish that professors spent more time making the classes not suck than trying to ban laptops and crossword puzzles. I can only speak to my personal experience, but I paid attention in classes that were interesting and well-taught. I didn’t in the classes that weren’t. And I took my laptop to all of them.