They miss learning the purpose for performing such a transformation in the first place because they cannot get past the arithmetic. Implicit in Wand's argument that the time spent teaching basic skills and facts is wasted, is the notion that the time could be better spent learning more advanced concepts. This argument has some validity. But that isn't the same as saying that students shouldn't learn and practice manual and mental arithmetic. At the very least, there is a value in simply learning the various arithmetic algorithms.
Calculators do break or get lost.
Simply learning to follow steps could be considered a sufficient reason to teach arithmetic algorithms to young children. The fact that it simultaneously teaches a valuable skill can, under those circumstances, be viewed as an added incentive. A more pertinent reason for the continued teaching of manual arithmetic algorithms is that many of those algorithms have analogs in algebra. Students who can manually perform long division, are better prepared to learn how to divide polynomials since the algorithms are nearly identical. Even a student with limited proficiency with fractions will have the edge over a student who only knows how to use the calculator.