blackplasticglasses.com says Apple has aimed the iPad at education, particularly higher education, by first delivering iWork on a great content device:

By putting the horse before the cart, Apple will have given students what they want first, only then following it with the education content they will need. In other words, if the iPad can achieve the market penetration of the iPhone/iPod Touch, Apple will have a legion of students on campuses a year or two from now who will be ready to buy and read their textbooks on the iPad. No education hardware selling needed — just release the content and watch it work.

— The iPad: Gateway Drug to Digital Learning?, blackplasticglasses.com, May 5th, 2010