It's not just about the money, it's about capability. The $999 MacBook has a 2.4GHz CPU and a 250GB hard drive, and the same GPU.
I work in a medical school neuroscience lab with a bunch of grad students and postdocs. Everyone has a Mac laptop, paid for by the lab. Two postdocs have MacBooks. Everyone else has a MacBook Pro. Except the PI who runs the lab, who has an MBA. The only one in the lab. He values small size and weight more than anyone else. He also travels more than anyone else.
Agreed. Students are also likely to have it as their only machine - and IMHO the MBA is a very enticing supplementary computer, but I'd be loathe to have it as my only.
I work in a medical school neuroscience lab with a bunch of grad students and postdocs. Everyone has a Mac laptop, paid for by the lab. Two postdocs have MacBooks. Everyone else has a MacBook Pro. Except the PI who runs the lab, who has an MBA. The only one in the lab. He values small size and weight more than anyone else. He also travels more than anyone else.
I don't see many MBAs around campus.