It has it's uses, but how many of those does annon plan to use it? Essentially, it sounds like he's buying a $400 typewriter.
Sure, I'd rather one of those than a full fledged laptop for going to school. I would use it for the same thing: Browsing the web in class, and typing up my notes, and doing anything else a computer might help in class.
However, I would never use it for anything else because I happen to have a home system more than capable for what I want. I have my own SSH server built on my 1TB NAS hardware, so it's not like I need any extra systems as a server.
Sure, the Eee has it's uses, but for a $400 typewriter, it's still a bit much.