Kalen:
As one who disdains yardage-finder thingys, I'll just throw in my two cents, and perhaps make the distinction that I think Melvyn and Shivas are making.
Golf really only has three main instruments of play -- the club, the ball, and the tee (and the tee is -- by historical standards -- fairly modern). There will always be advancements with all three of these instruments, and golfers depend on some governing agency (USGA, R&A) to provide some guidance as to what's appropriate and legal, and what's not. Within reasonable standards, I don't think anyone here on this thread opposes advancements in technology with the instruments one plays with.
All of the rest -- yardage books, pin sheets, caddies, flower buckets at 150 yds, and range finders -- are really outside instruments that help the golfer use the three primary instruments (club, ball, tee). I can see how folks may think the difference between a yardage book and a range finder is a distinction that's important (after all, the USGA and PGA allow one at tournaments, and not the other), while others view it as a paper-thin difference that's matters little in the inherent fairness of how the game is played. But both are outside instruments.
For those who argue on behalf of range finders, I'd be curious how many have ever played in Scotland, on non-major courses -- the kind of places in ordinary towns played by ordinary folks (like, Fraserburgh). I have never played golf, or seen golf played, as quickly as it is in Scotland (again, at the non-tourist golf haunts), and rarely did I see anyone consult a yardage book, or hunt for yardage markers, or ever use a range finder. But I also think that has something to do with how most Scots approach the game, compared to how most in the U.S. approach the game.