STEM PhD students typically pay with labor rather than cash. Labor to teach undergrads, and to perform other university research. (though they typically pay their undergrad with large piles of cash).
That is, very much, a substantial form of payment.
I have Find My running on this computer (which is unlocked) now. I've upgraded from Monterey to Tahoe without issue (startup that went AWOL).
However, you touch on two things - 1) I have no idea (and doubt) that this would bypass a device that has been locked, and 2) newer versions may not be as vulnerable. This computer is an M1, and Monterey can be made to go through a full install process without internet access, as described, but newer versions will not (or they may, but I couldn't find a way to force it with Sonoma or later). That means if I do an erase, I have to do a new Monterey install, and then upgrade (but nothing untoward there, don't have to do iterative updates).
Live Apple demos were always held together with duct tape in the first place. That first "live" iPhone demo had a memorized sequence that Jobs needed to use to keep the whole phone OS from hard crashing.
During that first iPhone demo they also had a portable cell tower (cell on wheels) just off-stage to mimic a better signal strength than it was capable of. NYTimes write-up on the whole thing is worth the read [0].
They also force the developers to make it work, under threat of being fired, and in the ire of Steve Jobs case, being yeeted in to the sun along with their ancestors and descendents.
It renders the term "text" effectively meaningless.
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