People download music? And pay for it?...
C'mon. Seriously. You're paying for ones and zeros magnatized onto a disk. I'd never do that. That's why I buy CDs instead of downloading stuff... after all, it's cool to have the work that the artist put out. Ones and zeros will never suffice for solid physical materials... that you can actually hold, and see.
I personally use different programs. I don't care that my player is "synced" up to my computer's programs, because what I use is already so easy to manipulate. As well, I use UMS capable players, so I can easily use it on mine, or any computer with a USB port.
I hated the iPod G3's scroll wheel... that thing was utter disgusting to use. The G4 poses a much improved wheel (Went to apple store, tried them both). Either that, or my fingers weren't greasy enough when I was using the G3. Everything was bose triports. Couldn't tell how bad they sounded as I can't wear headphones. Well, I can put them on, but it be useless... And I forgot to bring my other player to do comparasins with the iPod itself... oh well.
Why do I think iPods are so popular? Because people buy them without doing any significant research. They hear from friends, see ads, read reviews that tell only of how good it is, and of nothing else. All they find is evidence based on how much better iPods are compared to flash players. I don't know about the people specifically in your areas, but in mine, that's all people do (it's all "yadda yadda, flash sucks, iPod rules, yadda yadda... no one in my neighborhood goes to head-fi, why???). But granted, even so, they arn't wasting their money on a crappy player, as the iPod, even IMO, is a pretty good player. And no, I don't like the super white Digitally Atrocious Princess either, but looks are not something that will go towards the purchase of a player. Unless you like fondling it. But it just seems that people treat the iPod as a supreme being of DAP fetish, and as some sort of an oversized invitation card into something of a "cool people" society. I'm considering moving to a place with more sanity in its denizens.
Why am I not getting an iPod? Because I am not going to get something that everyone else has, and not when there's a player better tailored towards me. I find people who have different styles from everyone else much cooler than the rest. And unless you got the iPod specifically for it's hard specifications, and nothing else, it's a reflection upon yourself.