[tytso]

They don't have to be low-end. You can buy higher-end Chromebooks, but they cost more money. Do people remember the "netbooks" that were-super cheap Windows laptops with 10 inch screens? Even if you install Linux on it, with the 512MB or 1G (or maybe 2GB for the really highly spec'ed out netbooks), there was real limits to what they could do.

If you want something super-cheap, then perhaps it won't be useful 5 or 10 years later. You get what you pay for; this isn't unique for Chromebooks.