The whole premise here is that they assume that Apple will not continue developing the iPod. Of course the iPod as it is now will not match up to products of the future. Apple will continue to innovate. Because no one knows exactly what the future holds for iPod development, these assumptions are a waste of time and very shortsighted.

The iPod will continue to be developed, but look how blackberries and treo phones that have integrated PDA functions have eroded the PDA market. Circuit City easily lists 5x as many phones as PDAs, most at the same price. It's a warning to Apple to keep the iPod well ahead of the phone market or make their own phone with far more capability than competitors.

Indeed, this vision [b]is[/b] very shortsighted. And besides, who are the people who want only one device for both functions? All people I know chose very consciously for both an iPod and a mobile phone. And so did I. I love having both functions seperated.

as long as there's a million or so like me, no way will a cell replace an iPod same way a cell camera will not replace items like Canon elph cameras.

This analysis is too shallow. The premise is that because someone else can make a phone with MP3 capabilities then the iPod will go away. The three legged stool supporting Apple is the iPod/iTunes/iTMS. Until another company can surpass Apple in all three areas iPods will still lead the market. Not to mention that the market has already standardized on iPods and it is very difficult to change markets like that. Finally, as was pointed out above, Apple is hardly going to stand still and watch this market go away. Just last year Apple killed their best selling iPod mini and replaced it with the nano. That shows how aggressively they will act to keep this business.

Of course people will buy a combined camera/phone/music player - they are doing it already. You've seen the phenomenal rise of the iPod, now watch for the phenomenal fall.

Sony is shipping phones with built-in FM radios, MP3/AAC music players and 2mpx camera. These only have 512MB cards, but can be cheaply upgraded to 1-2GB. The mobile companies in the UK give these away with airtime contracts - so for most people they're seen as free.

Why would anyone buy an iPod when these phones have the same functions… and more? They sync with your music collection, address book and calendar, etc, all via USB2 or Bluetooth.

Ok, the Sony music player interface isn't the best in the world, but neither is the iPod.

My biggest problem w/ these phones is the fact that it's just that...my phone! The complications and inconveniences of having my phone be my music player and vice versa greatly outweighs the minor benefit of a single device. It's why I returned my SLVR...it's a pain to listen, answer, pause, talk, listen, answer, pause, message...you get the idea.

Plus the plethora of iPod accessories greatly extends it way beyond the same expectations for using one's phone. Can't imagine a phone boom-box being very practical.

In the end, it's like Bill Gates' SmartWatch. Sure it's cool, but I'm not wasting money buying something I'm never going to utilize.

YET...

My cell phone runs out of power too quickly. Even if I'm barely using it for calls. The idea of mp3s running on a phone with the way batteries seem to last seems almost crazy. Nobody who has an ipod will sit still with 2 hours of music max on their cellphone before their battery is reading dead.

This 'false and misleading story' is nothing but pure propaganda from the 'cell phone news industry group'.

Phones that play mp3s' are worthless devices; little battery time; little mp3 flash storage; interruptions from incoming calls...etc

This 'cell news' propaganda is not news, it is pure speculation.

The loco logic is mearly distributed as news to try to influence the public into 'this industry groups revenue stream'.

Be aware that the competition from 'cell phones that can also open food cans or jump start your car' these are false and misleading claims aimed at swaying your disposible income into the hungry pockets of these gaget companies climbing on the iPod bandwagon claiming to be the next 'hot item' to knock off the number one iPod.

I predict that in five years the 'lack of interest' in cell phones that can play mp3s will decline rapidly because of stiff competition from the iPod, and cell phones with cameras will also decine fast. In addition the sheer quanitity of cell phone choices will also only hurt the new players in the cell phone market; while the next generation of the iPod will soon be released with no true competition threat in the industry. And the only articles you will see will be 'predicting the end of the iPod' from the big bad MS monster due out sometime in the next century...total propaganda from the jealous people who brought you the 99 cent PC...and dead last in both product demand and useability.

Again people remember that 'speculation and foward looking statements' should not be considered NEWS.

The news should be truthful like 'iPod market share at all time highs and aproaching 90% of all portable flash players... with fresh new models to be announced soon...

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I for one am not interested in a phone+iPod-like-music-etc-player. Our phones are strictly pay as you go, and that's not going to change. There aren't many models to pick from in that genre. I just perceive a cell phone replacing my iPod as ludicrous. I've got every CD, iTMS music, ebooks, speeches, podcasts, videos, tv, etc etc etc, and for me there is no way a cell phone is going to replace that in a decent form factor and ease of use. No way. And will these vaunted "iPod killer" cell phones, (please kill this phrase), going to have software and music stores and integrated tools that play nice on Macs?? Somehow I doubt it. For one, they will not be able to us FairPlay DRM, so they will have to use MS/Janus/WMP, which if I understand correctly, the required version won't work on Macs, so as primarily a Mac user, that is a deal breaker right there. Not to mention that they would no doubt have some lame subscription thing and there is no way in Redmond I am doing that. Just because both things are small portable devices does not necessarily mean that they would be better combined. This all reminds me of that hype of "push technology" that was going to replace web browsing...everything would be pushed to your computer instead of you going out to get it. Yeah, right. We see that worked out.