I think iPads in education are really aimed at replacing textbooks, which in their paper form never gave students any authoring&#x2F;hacking capability either. In this context, consumption is the correct way to think of what the iPad enables. But instead of thinking of it like a broken computer, folks can think of it like a lighter, more up-to-date, interactive textbook.<p>In terms of evaluating Apple as a company, one has to look at their whole product line. iPads may be locked down, but Macs are great platforms for kids to tinker. They ship with a ton of programming languages and integrate with all sorts of free open source technologies.<p>And I agree that personal hardware is the best place to hack. Decades ago, school computers were the only place to hack because school was the only place to actually put hands on a computer. Today computers (even Macs) are much more affordable, especially used.