That, IMHO, is the best argument against giving the pads to the kids. In itself, an I-pad is one of the world’s great book handling and storage devices. Instead of carrying around several books, a kid can carry only one I-pad. Equally important, the schools do not need to buy thousands of new test books every year, saving a lot on storage and distribution. However, the nearly $700 spent on each I-pad would buy 35 hard copy books at $20.00 per book. I have an I-pad and a Kindle and really like the I-pad as a book storage and reading device; indeed I prefer it for book reading to regular books, especially because it solves the storage problem.
The problem I see i personal responsibility. Kids, given expensive devices like I-pads for free, will treat them like so much junk, and will expect to get new ones for free when they break, steal, or lose the old ones. They can only be expected to treat such valuable property with the respect it deserves if they have to pay for it with their own money.
We can do that without iPads, for all practical purposes. Many of our text books are available through eText, so they can keep their school issued book at school and access the electronic version at home on the family computer if they decide to do some homework. Studious kids will either schlep the books or go online while less studious ones won't make the effort even if you tattoo the content on their eyeballs.