This is a good question. Personally, it seems to me that degrees in business are of a different kind than more academic courses, but not lesser.

This difference in kind may explain some of the attitudes that are out there though. MBA's are relatively new in terms of degrees and they are much more applied than most degrees. This is simply different from what other students are working on and people tend to be disdainful of what is different, especially if it is also new. This is just an off the cuff thought, but it seems to fit.

I have to agree. Even though I don't like to admit it, maybe my time in higher education would have been better spent studying a business related subject. If you're passionate enough about CS/hacking, there's so much info available online these days, you'll learn just as much by immersing yourself in the hacker communities in your own time as you would have studying for a degree.