Okay, so here's my point :)
For production development purposes, the emulator is essential, and $100 in this or that direction isn't much. But for a poor student working on a thesis in some god-forsaken country... the difference between $100 and $0 may be a difference between starving and eating...
When full emulators (circuit, software and all that) are available for $5, they can replace simulators in that situation.
We're simply talking what is better - a bicycle or a car...