Assuming that Apple does things properly, the new iPod will more an likely feature WiFi and their safari browser, along with Youtube application.

The only item up in the air is bluetooth, which so far has not been mentioned. It wont take much to kill the N800. Ill be at my Apple store, on my n800, hoping that I can leave with its predecessor that day.

Well, the iPod is supposed to be out on the 5th, which coincides with me going to the states for a holiday, so if it has the touch-screen, I will buy it.
However, I will still have the same space for my 770 than I have now. I don't see them as the same sort of device

You mean, like the Sony Mylo was going to kill the Nokia tablets?

Or the Archos 604?

Or all those Windows sub-tablets?

Or the iPhone (<spit!>)?

Funny, I'm actually getting the feeling it's just about over for Apple. (LOL, am I the only one on the planet?) DRM is on the way out, touchscreens are coming from all kinds of manufacturers like Nokia, ...what's the big plus for Apple in this scenario? (please no flames or odes to all things rounded! It's just my opinion... )

Personally, DRM and a proprietary software client killed the iPod for me a long time ago. (iTunes is a 3 mb TSR!?! Is this really 2007? Did I just say TSR?!?)

I'd also suggest actually trying things out before making a buy decision on anything that plays music these days, and do a "blind" listening test. I was surprised when I found the iPod audio was poor compared to much cheaper players such as from from Creative. $29 for a 2 gig Creative stone 2 beats the crap out of everything else if you ask me. I can afford to lose and abuse a player at that price, and it even sounds better than most. (and nobody will mug me for it) And no, I don't want to watch videos,...it's impossible to really watch anything while bumping around on a commute.

Of course I'm ignoring the whole "making a statement" angle...no one is too impressed by the Stone...if they even can see you have one.

One thing's for sure, Apple is fun to watch, and we owe them a lot for kickstarting everyone else.

And sadly, doom is indeed approaching for the N800, as it will quickly for most any device these days. I do use mine still every day, as there's just no beating it for certain things. I actually look forward to it phasing out though, as it can only mean I've found something better! And the way things are looking, it will likely be a Nokia that meets the need, not Apple. Check out the new stuff Nokia has coming out...

the IT thing is such a niche market that it's a bit insulated. A new iPod model doesn't spell doom for n800, because that would mean that they are in some way in direct competition. Hardly.

You know what will definitely spell doom for the N800? N900 and a new firmware that is not forward compatible for the N800.

Welcome to designed obsolescence.

I agree with the n900 comment - that is the thing that will kill the n800. All of these things are different. Sometimes when people don't like something they feel that some next thing is going to kill it off, like the iPod being killed by everything going.
My iPod doesn't make a statement, and it doesn't have any DRM on it, it just plays music. I love iTunes. i used it before the iPod, and I used the iPod before the music store. The combination is perfect for a large amount of people (including me). And it is a most people thing.
If people don't want it, then fine, don't buy it, there are plenty of other things available that do similar things in different ways, but don't assume that means something you do like will kill it.
My mum had one of those creative things (she wanted a cheap music player). She could never use it, so she got an iPod and loved it. Doesn't mean the creative is bad, it just wasn't the right thing for her.
I bought the 770 knowing it was already obsolete, but nothing kills it (not even the n800), as it does what I want. I would still be using a newton if they made a smaller one with more storage.

The other thing I don't get on some of these posts is why nokia are marked as the underdog to apple. Nokia is the largest player in the largest mobile markets in the world, apple is just a very tiny part of the US phone market. I don't think nokia have that much to prove!

That just about sums it all up for me.

When it comes to the mobile business, the company with the most world-wide marketshare wins.
Right now it's Nokia and will be for the foreseeable future.

A lot of people seem to confuse DRM and sound quality and the reasons for the iPod's success.

* Many people -- media especially -- believe that the iPod is linked to DRM music, forgetting that it fully supports non-DRM music. Really, it's no different from a Play For Sure device or the Zune or the devices that work with Rhapsody: works with all regular music and the particular flavor from Apple.

* People also conflate the iPod and iTunes, trying to attribute the weaknesses (or strengths) of one to the other. They are produced by separate teams at Apple (which talk to each other a lot, of course.) They are not the same product.

* The biggest causes of audio differences are (a) the quality of the headphones and (b) the bitrate of the track on the device. If you aren't using the same base file and the same headphones, sound "quality" differences likely mean nothing.

* The #1 reason for the success of the iPod is Design. The thing simply works, works well, works consistently, and looks good. Very few other devices approach it on any of those fronts, much less all. (iRiver Clix is nice.) It's like so much else from Apple: if you make people happy with the experience, they will recommend it to their friends, and your sales will increase; if people are unhappy or ambivalent about the device, they may continue to use it, but they won't proselytize, and your sales will remain small.

As corollaries: it doesn't matter how pretty it is if using it is hard. And it doesn't matter how many formats it supports and how many extra features it has, if it's ugly as sin.

so well put.

btw, ever see someone (especially a kid) that is hoping to get an iPod as a gift and gets some crap like a iriver or sanyo mp3 player? hahah oh man, it's not pretty.

1) stupidity is never pretty. That's why the world is so ugly.

2) iRiver crap ? Check your facts.