I'd definitely buy one. There are times when traveling when no WiFi is available and I and the GF want to surf the web at the same time.

I too download off of iTunes a lot. Its rare that I like an entire album. The quality while technically not as good as a CD, is good enough for my ears (ruined them in my teen years) and for any equipment I own to play back the music. Its convenient to buy online, and like being able to take all of my music in my car on my iPod instead of having 100s of CDs floating around in the backseat. Fact is, 128kbs is good enough for 90% of the planet, just not the 10% of music purists with the exceptional hearing.

For an extra (everything is extra these days) $99 you can get a 85Wh battery and add another 1.5hrs of battery life. I have a friend who bought this model, he loves it.

I have a real problem with this. I have a T-Mobile account that I got nearly two years ago which was a recycled number. To this day I'm still getting phone calls for the previous owner of the number.

First, it isn't France targeting Apple and the iTunes music store. Its France trying to mandate a common industry standard for DRM. An article with a headline that reads "French law could force Apple to open iTunes" is more likely to get read or picked up by other news services than one with a headline that reads, "France pushes for common DRM format".
Second, its not France trying to break Apple's perceived monopoly on the online music business. That already went to court in France with the French courts saying there were plenty of alternatives in the market to iTunes and the iPod. People just aren't buying those alternatives, that isn't Apple's fault.
Third, Apple doesn't mandate DRM. The people who provide the content that Apple sells do.
Why does Apple tie the iPod to iTunes? Simple, Apple doesn't sell just the iPod they sell the solution, part of which is iTunes. Why do they do that....besides the fact that yes they make money off the iTunes store? Because they control the total experience and hence can support the product better. Do they do that for the sake of the customer? No not really, it keeps their support costs down, simplifies their product offering, and if they do it right (and it appears they have) sell more product because people like it. Imagine what a pain it would be if you had to support everyone's music library software.
The problem with the industry is all the participants have their own idea how it should work to meet their vision and trust me, those visions are all different and tailored so that you the consumer part with as much cash as they can squeeze out of you. Preferably in the form of a recurring revenue stream via a subscription service.

Hate to belabor the McDonalds thing. The 79 year old lady had the coffee sitting between her knees. She spilled it when she removed the lid to add cream and sugar. Yes the coffee was super hot. The award was reduced a.) because McDonald's fought it and b.) Because the lady was found to be partially at fault. McD's lost because their own records had approx. 700 documented instances of coffee burns. The actual amount of the award is unknown as both parties finally settled out of court. Most likely the amount was more than the $20,000 the lady originally asked for to pay medical bills. And she got 3rd degree burns, not 2nd.