Why ipod classic?

We've discussed this before.

The design aesthetic of Touch/iPhone is focused on thinness. Adding a big drive to it would compromise that core design. Classic exists to cater to a different market.

I hate touch-screen controls. I like metal. I am also this "smart" you typed of...

Not everybody likes touch screen players. They aren't all they are cracked up to be.

I realise the ipod touch has a glass screen and is probably fairly resilient, but having used my IPAQ 4700 as stand in mp3 player, I personally wouldn't feel safe having such a delicate device as my primary mp3 player.

Plus like surf monkey said, the touch is all about the thinness. If they put a 160GB hard drive in there which I guess are 8mm thick (double platter 1.8" drives are 8mm thick) there would have to be some kind of give with the thickness of the player. A touch screen is more complicated than a normal LCD and the screen is bigger than the classics too.

touch sensitive surfaces are the future, look at microsoft surface

touch sensitive surfaces are the future, look at microsoft surface

"Surface" is an over priced coffee table. That sh1te ain't the future, son.

"The Future" is what consumers will make of it, not manufacturers.

Right but if you look at the trend, touchscreen devices are going to become bigger parts of our lives. PDA's have long been touchscreen and now digital cameras, portable gaming devices, cellphones, and iPods are all moving towards that direction. I have a Sony digital camera with a touchscreen and it is nice, Sony has sine introduced many more models have a touchscreen. The Nintendo DS has shown us that having a touchscreen is a innovative way to game when on the go. Many cellphones are now coming out with touchscreens like the iPhone, other PDA-like cellphones, and even some new non-PDA-like Motorolla cellphones now have touchscreens. The iPod touch is also the future of iPods as Apple will be moving towards a PDA-like device with the iPod. The iPhone has proven successful and the iPod touch is proving to be quite successful as well. Every store I have been to is sold out and no longer has any units. They sell out days after receiving shipments of 10 or more units.

Apple will eventually phase out the ever popular hardware clickwheel and go with complete touchscreen controls. Even notebooks are moving towards touchscreens as tablet PCs are very popular. So consumers are showing that the demand for touchscreens is there, now the manufacturers have to start offering these products.

Apple will eventually phase out the ever popular hardware clickwheel and go with complete touchscreen controls.

Maybe so, but Apple has a LONG way to go to make the touch screen interface as simple and intuitive as the click wheel interface. Flash doesn't always mean better. Apple used to understand that fact. Now, I'm not so sure they do.

I actually own an iPhone, a 160GB classic, and an 8GB nano, so I can certainly attest that they cater to different needs and styles of use...

The issue is really quite simple, IMHO:

The iPod classic is a high-capacity audio player that provides some video playback capabilities, which are mostly leverages through the "TV Out" feature. However, it's targeted at those who want to carry around a lot of content with them, and are primarily focused on audio playback. I personally use my iPod classic quite heavily when I'm traveling, since those are the times when I want a lot of content with me.

The iPod nano (video) fits a similar bill in that it's primarily audio-focused with the ability to dabble in a bit of video. It's targeted at somebody who wants small/thin audio player, or is looking for a workout device. I use it mostly for workouts, and walking/running with the Nike+ kit.

The iPod touch/iPhone are targeted at those who demand a bit more in terms of features like browsing and WiFi, and have a stronger interest in video playback capabilities. Somebody who is focused primarily on listening to music and other forms of audio will probably find the iPod touch or iPhone to be a less than optimal device, as the control system does not really facilitate efficient use as an audio player. On the other hand, the screen is absolutely gorgeous for portable video, and the capacity even at 8GB is reasonable for somebody who is at their computer every night (ie, a daily commute), since smart playlists can be used to organize the video content pretty effectively. As a phone, my iPhone is the device that's with me all the time, and unless I'm traveling, tends to be the only device I carry, as there's enough capacity for a few songs, podcasts, audiobooks, and a couple of episodes of whatever TV series I'm following.

I prefer the music side of things and not the video. I mostly use my ipod for the gym and running. I have no time to watch movies.

I agree with all you said in your post. The problem is that you are correct in stating that the iPod touch is targeted to those who want more video. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but for me, an average video is between 1.5GB - 2.0GB in size. If you put 2-3 videos on an 8GB touch, it only leaves minimal room for audio content.
It's definitely a trade-off, but realistically you're also referring to the size of the average movie. Even 640x480 video content should be around 500MB/HR at a reasonable bit-rate, so even with 8GB, you're going to be able to get 2-3 hours of video playback and still have more than enough room for a basic music library.

Again, if you look at it as a device that you would use on a daily commute, and sync to iTunes every night, it's really not that bad. Granted you don't have the flexibility of choice (ie, have a large selection of content so you can decide at the time what you want to watch), but it does hold more than enough content for the average person to consume on a daily basis if you plan ahead a bit, and especially if you're watching video content in a more serial fashion.

For example, I tend to use it for video podcasts and TV shows. In that context, the podcasts basically manage themselves on each sync, and for TV shows I just use a series of smart playlists to keep a few episodes queued up. With the smart playlist method, each night when I sync, those episodes that I've watched are removed, and the next episodes are transferred. Therefore, each morning I have fresh, unwatched video content ready-to-go.

To me - because of the limitation in memory size - the touch doesn't do a very good job satisfying a user who is in the market for a video or an audio player. 16GB may have been an improvement, but I believe it really needs to be minimally 32GB.
Well, to be fair, "enough" is often just 1GB more than you already have... :)

In reality, I imagine that due to the price of flash memory, Apple had to make certain compromises when designing the touch. They certainly could have produced a 32GB model, but it likely would have been priced beyond what most people were willing to pay... Selling 100,000 16GB units at $399 is far better than selling 10,000 at $599.