iPod Line Up 2010 - mixed bag

So, today Apple announced their new lineup for the 2010 iPod line. I have very mixed reviews about it. Here's my opinions on the various models.

Shuffle - A great and much needed step back to the previous generation shuffle. The last form looked great, but very much still needed physical controls on the unit itself. Now only offered with 2GB of memory??? What happened to the 4GB model?

Nano - An interesting little unit, but now lacking a video camera or video playback altogether? Not an upgrade in my opinion. While I wouldn't use the camera a whole lot, the appeal was that it was included. The most important seller for the nano line for me was that it allowed video playback. It might have been small, but if you needed to watch a movie, the option was there. This new model is nothing but a downgrade for me. Yeah, it has a touch screen, but why? The videos I have seen of the touch screen in action make it look very cumbersome and frustrating. Definitely not what I was hoping for.

Touch - I have wanted a touch for some time now, but being a big fan of having almost my entire collection of music with me at all times has caused me pause from going ahead with a purchase. I was hoping this new generation would boast a higher storage capacity, but to no avail. Again, we are stuck with the same 8GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. I am sorry, but it looks as though I'll be still using my old 160GB iPod Classic for another year. The addition of video and photo functions seem appealing, but not as much of a seller to me personally if it didn't have the cameras but had a higher memory capacity.

My analysis of the line is that the Nano has pretty much been ruined to an extent. Honestly, they should have billed the new Nano as the new Shuffle. I understand why they couldn't though, considering the Nano pricing starts at $149. If I had my ability to make changes to these units, I would have a higher capacity model shuffle back in the lineup, make the Nano widescreen and still incorporate video playback features, and my biggest change to the line would be to incorporate more capacity into the touch line. I have seen it on many other blogs that there are many others like myself crying out for a higher capacity Touch.

Me, I am pretty sure I'm skipping this generation of iPods. The line changes were not enough for me to yet pick up a Touch and enough that a Nano no longer appeals to me at all. I did hear that Microsoft is planning a full overhaul of their Zune HD that is possibly incorporating their Windows Phone 7 OS. I cannot wait to see what Zune has in store.