I'm with you on TV, not so much on the iPad (or other device that lets you access the internet). I don't own either, but I do own a desktop. Homework with an e-mail component is increasingly onerous, my niece gets it all the time, but she has no internet access at home (in Los Angeles), save for her phone. At best anecdotal evidence, but it does make me empathize with people who suddenly find themselves in need of an expensive piece of electronic equipment to be able to function in modern society. You might (rightly) point out that there are alternatives for the iPad, but how many people are really aware of them? A lot of people don't even call a tablet 'tablet', they call it an 'iPad'