As a student, the compromises people are willing to make in order to own an iPad are amazing to witness. While this is anecdotal evidence, iPads are becoming notetaking devices, with such cases being pretty common. In other cases, people are struggling and bringing Apple Wireless keyboards, and pairing them with their iPad via bluetooth. In these situations, it doesn't matter how appropriate the device is. These users have an "iPad or nothing" attitude.
It might also show how battery life is becoming the main feature of portable devices. And iPad is hard to beat on that (though my Transformer Prime is even better when the keyboard dock is connected)
It still means you'll run out of power on a typical workday (or a trans-Atlantic flight). With such battery life I still found myself having to decide whether to do something now on the device, or save battery for later.
On the days when I'm carrying only my Transformer Prime I charge the device at night and never take the charger with me to work.
Well, for the price of an iPad, you can get a high-end netbook. So, at some point, people have made the choice to get the iPad over the netbook, and cope with the disagreements.
to be fair, I can't be sure 100% of the time. However, in some smaller classes, I've witnessed some mid-semester changes in devices, which does suggest this attitude.
Considering the iPad's cost vs. capability in an academic setting (incompatible software comes to mind), I would say an iPad suggests it's an attitude or predisposition as opposed to being financially determined.
