And an entry-level computer in either desktop or laptop form factor can be had for less than half that, if you even buy it new from an OEM; and it can run a far broader range of much more useful software. Your point?
My entry level desktop PC cost $99.00 brand new in 2004 from a respectable retailer. The next year I went back bought another one for $99.00.
It came in a case with a power supply all put together. A normal retail computer. It came with a PS/2 mouse and a PS/2 keyboard. It came with 4 USB ports, 1 VGA port, 1 Ethernet 100Mbps port, 1 floppy drive, 1 40GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM (expandable to 2GB but I only expanded it to 1GB), PCI slots and an AGP gfx card slot. It had a 1.5Ghz AMD Sempron 2200 processor. It came with an onboard gfx chip that did various resolutions up to and including 1280x1024x16.7 Million colors @ 60 hz. It also came with a CD-ROM drive and some empty drive bays so I could expand it, which I did later add a DVD-Burner for $49.00 and a 500GB drive for $119.00
I am pretty sure that a $99.00 PC in 2004 beats a $500.00 ipad in 2013 price-wise and reliability-wise.
