Johnnyh, you won’t get the product you want. The problem is Apple's whole philosophy really. Which centres around a) platform control
deliberate obsolescence both of which explain the crippled connectivity.
Really, that amount of money for 8G of storage? It would have been the easiest thing in the world to include a recessed card slot, but instead you need an ugly wart at extra cost that immediately detracts from the products one, real advantage – the form factor. But really you do want to spend 5 times as much as generic flash and get the bigger model anyway, don’t you? And why in the 3G model a type of simm card that NOBODY yet uses? (what lovely new contracts for Apple’s exclusive providers? Surely not?). They aren’t exactly short of physical space; that’s just being obtuse. No USB, why? Crippled Bluetooth, why?
I stopped buying Sony because of their proprietary formats (memory stick, ATRAC, minidisc, etc.) and they seem to be learning because the latest phones and cameras use bog-standard SDHC, I hold no such hopes for Apple.
Ironic if you remember the “1984” themed Apple Mac adverts setting yourselves free from “Big Brother” (by implication at the time Microsoft). Really as much as we love to hate MS, they are saints compared to the polo-necked control-freaks at Apple.
I have a G4, 2 ipods and an ipod touch, but that’s it from me.