true, they are over priced, but they're demolishing the competition as the only profitable tablet that can command a $500 price tage with minions waiting in line to the wee hours of the morning to get what Steve Jobs had for years.
iFanatics enable a whole crazy economy around Apple.
Nobody else gets what Apple does in the tablet game. They sell their tablets for a profit - no need to take a loss - yet they also control their own app market, one drives the other.
Blackberry wanted to do this, so did HP using Palm.. but what really is the incentive for Android tablet makers? Google gets the app market, the constant revenue stream past purchase, while the manufacturers sell at tight margins or even at a loss just to compete with Apple. Blackberry and HP couldn't compete with the iPad to get their ecosystem to mature and generate revenue on that valuable app space (and they weren't willing to take a loss on the tablets to get there, both convinced they had the "iPad killer" LOL)
It's all rather insane, but a great example of the power of brand loyalty (and maybe a bit of hipsterism).
I only justify my Apple purchases because I develop for that ecosystem. You can't swim without getting wet. Honestly, though, if I wasn't a developer, I'd be sticking with Android tablets at this point.