For the first proper AR kit to be available to the wider public, it was likely always going to be on the steep side. It does and will look like the future - AR is where all gaming developers and most other tech people say we will be in 5-10 years. So for that reason, I can start to understand why we're seeing the first one now hit the market can be a good thing and at the same time the price be astronomically out of reach of so many of us which is disappointing.
Seems more of a technical statement to the outside world that Apple still matter more than anything else.