Teaching Cross Country Skills & the iPad

Even though I allow the use of the iPad on check rides, I have chosen NOT to let my students use them in their primary training.  Some of you are asking "Why the heck not?"  The answer is simple.  I want my student to have the necessary BASIC airmanship skills engrained in their heads. 

The iPad with Foreflight or WingX Pro can make life very easy on a pilot.  If you're enroute and decide to divert, two fingers is all you need to find a heading and distance to the alternate.  What if that iPad stops working, now what?  I'm not so sure some people could get out a sectional, use a plotter and a whiz wheel (or basic math for that matter) to get to an airport.

After the basic skills are engrained and the my student passes his/her check ride, then they can use the iPad all they want. 

Like I said above, I'll allow the use of the iPad on check rides, but I won't be letting my students use them till after their rides.

That's my opinion, I maybe wrong :)