Your article is so true. I was in Best Buy and overheard a store clerk tell a kid that he shouldn't be looking for an iPod Mini but a Nano instead. His argument? The Mini is dead because Apple isn't making them anymore. That seems to be the general attitude anymore. This week saw the sale of the XBOX 360 and suddenly you are so lame if you only have an XBOX! So, I started looking at some of my games and game demos to see if the graphics are really that much better on the 360. In truth they are somewhat better but not as much as they would have you believe. They can have my Halo Edition when they can pry it from my cold dead fingers! Okay, I will probably get a 360 in about 2 years after the price has become realistic. However, my point is that my XBOX didn't suddenly become garbage just because the 360 has arrived. The same is true of the Mini. My Silver Mini goes very well with my Silver Visor Edge and my new 12" G4 PowerBook. All Anodized Aluminum. The Visor has long since been relagated to the dust bin of PDA history yet it continues to function just fine. It looks and works just as good as it did the day I bought it. The same is true of my iPod Mini. Would I buy another one? You bet! It feels right in my hand and has enough heft to let me know its there. Apple shouldn't have been so quick to cease making it. If anything they should have given it a color screen and increased the size of the HD to say 8 or 10Gb for videos. It would be perfect for storing an occasional TV show or video. Anyway, it was great to read someone else who hasn't fallen for the "Gotta have the latest/greatest craze thing."

Ditto with Philip Michaels -- I have an iPod Mini and think it is a very good product (green also).

As well, I think that Apple should continue to manufacture and sell the 6GB Mini, as it represents both an excellent product and provides more capacity and connectivity than the 4GB Nano. Given the prices for used minis now, Apple could still be generating a ton of revenue by selling aluminum minis. (Hint to Steve: this would help Apple margin = a good thing.)

On another note, it is a sad trend in journalism that some writers go for the drama and hype rather than facts -- re. the statement from SF Chron Pati that her mini is suddenly "obsolete." When in point of fact it is not obsolete (at least not as per dictionary definitions). The mini still functions and even has more capacity than its replacement (50%), & more connectivity (USB + FW). It has merely been removed from the current manufacturing lineup. It appears that Pati is acting as an Apple hype-advocate, helping to push the whole unecological throw-it-away and buy new so one can be oh-so-up-to-the-minute. sigh. just my opinion.