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Here's an interesting question.
How close are Intelligent Devices to, well, people? They're sentient, if not all that loquacious. You could assume that Mid doesn't put cartridge systems in Intelligent Devices normally because, well, it's dangerous, and they could get hurt or killed, the same way that Mid doesn't put cyborg systems in people.
Mind you, just like Subaru gets along just fine as a cyborg, RH and Bardiche and the cartridge-fueled devices of the forwards get along just fine. Maybe "modern" Intelligent Devices are just tougher and more redundant, and what used to be dangerous isn't much of a risk anymore?
We don't see any "old" Intelligent Devices, though. Oh, sure, the Knights' weapons are older'n dirt, but they're still paired with their users, and all the forwards have new custom-crafted devices. But under a scenario where an Intelligent Device was considered an independent, sentient entity, you'd expect that there would be "veteran" Devices; in fact, it would be a really good idea to pair rookie mages with old and canny Devices. But if this ever happens, we don't see it.
(Possible exception: Raising Heart, whose origins aren't well-explained. It's obvious near the beginning of S1 that RH is doing a lot of the driving and Nanoha's just giving it oomph, until she figures out what she's doing. On the other hand, this also gives a good reason not to do this; while RH and Nanoha together had explosive power, they happily used this power until Nanoha broke. So it's possible that pairing "rookie" devices with rookies makes it easier to bring them up slowly...)
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