I will say that the earlier hard drive based MP3 players were rather clunky and not very friendly to the non-geeks among us. Apple did a good job of giving the iPod a great design and making it idiot proof. Only after it came out did you really see any hd-based MP3 players which had a similarly small form factor and any sort of level of ease of use.

Thumbdrive MP3 players on the other hand have had more time to evolve and become idiot proof, so Apple is entering a segment which they have less of a chance of dominating.

But really, why so much hate? It's just an MP3 player or whatever else Apple comes out with at any particular point in time. If you don't like it then don't buy it. Life is far easier if you realize that the average human IQ is only 100 and that's not exactly very high. Having lower expectations of standard human intelligence leaves you with less to be disappointed about.