The cost of going to college is expensive, without the added factors of food and essential school material that colleges request (particularly true for longer courses, such as Medicine). The cost of the latter, and the increasing amount of products, is reportedly increasing the cost burden on parents and raises the question if the iPad - and similar mobile devices - are the way forward.

One parent, speaking to the Times of India, said that her son is "fascinated" with products and even owns multiple types of shoes for school. Even at lower educational levels, the annual re-stocking of equipment during the summer only for it to go missing on the first day of school is a recurring problem.

That's not taking into account the rise of the iPad in schools, and the heavy discounts available for institutions through bulk ordering. Apple's introduction of digital textbooks in 2011 is probably another step towards digital learning, which support animated images and full color. The advantage over regular texbooks is the updates aren't confined to new terms: notes in the App Store could present summaries of revised/added content.

The aforementioned parent reportedly spends around 7,000 Rupees ($125) on bags and sneakers, among other items. The parent also said five types of uniform are being bought for the rainy season.

It also raises the question over whether uniform is important for school: the U.S. allows students to wear casual clothes, and it means more versatility for changing weather conditions. Sticking to a uniform means, come rain or sun, students have to wear the same clothing. Breaking the dress code results in punishment.

Another parent allows her daughter to choose from an inexpensive catalogue, though she does give in to her requests. Apple said an advantage of digital textbooks was the reduced weight: the sight of students carrying numerous books in a single bag is familiar, and heavy. Issuing iPads with subject-specific textbooks pre-installed, or an option to buy them, could be more convenient and is probably going to be the norm for studying in the near future.

An upper class parent argued parents are spending more money because the demands of children are changing according to the latest trends. That's more of an issue with non-uniform schools, where the competition to be the best-dressed student is probably more pronounced, though schools that enforce uniform will see students accessorizing with bags and lunch boxes to differentiate. The Internet and social media also allows children to idolize celebrities, which is inevitably expensive.