Don't really see the point of the Pi myself. Everyones got a PC nowadays so can program if they want
Its good for kids to see use a constrained (by memory, cpu and power) device to learn on.
But the point is that it is £30, the idea being its significantly less money for a school to find and not prohibitively expensive to have at home either. Whether it'll catch on in this way is debatable.
For home use as a media player, I'd pay £30 but not buy a dedicated (and yes better) set up because I might not use it.