I have to disagree
The ipod touch you get free apps calculator calender all of that stuff you can even put movies on it and go on youtube and lots more you cant do that with a $100 mp3 player and you get to have the glory of saying that you have an IPOD.
So I can say you prefer the name rather than it's uses? I couldn't care less about its brand. I actually didn't know that iPods last about 1 year before they get re-designed.
Well then, consider the Microsoft Zune. about $200 USD (I think) and gives you 120GB of storage, already double the Touch's size. Then you get earbuds that perform on par with $100 retail earbuds and don't even think about saying iPod ones are good, their terrible. Wi-Fi - wireless sync to PCs and wirless network.
So I don't see why people buy iPods and apps. They're a novelty. Now I would assume people use MP3/4 players to listen to music/watch videos. I couldn't see myself spending $15-20 for a card just to get some apps that are $2-10 each.