iPads with keyboards

In the course I'm taking, I've been watching for signs of iPad use among the ~20 year old students that make up the majority.

It's finally happened. There are now three students using an iPad in the class. One young woman seems to use the thing to look something up on the 'net while taking her class notes on a pad of paper. The other two iPad users, both males, carry the thing around in a metal case with a keyboard. Given the relative cost, power, battery life, and screen size of the iPad versus a Macbook Air, I do not understand this behaviour one little bit. Isn't an iPad with a metal case that includes a keyboard essentially a laptop with a touch screen and extremely limited support for peripherals? A netbook at twice the price?