Well... "Goof Ball" may have been a little harsh.

While I think the iPod looks far too much like it belongs in the perfume department of Nordstrom's, the minimalist styling is important. My personal opinion is the groovy, funky, organic shapes that SonicBlue has been using in their portables recently screams of "LOOK! WE'RE HIP! NO, REALLY..." (Although I will give you the S series look to be designed mainly for hand-held use while exercising.)

My main concern is it functions well, and the styling doesn't get in the way of use. The simple shape of the iPod and the Archos makes it easy to find aftermarket cases and straps in a variety of sizes. The "OEM" cases packaged with most players I've found to be either of shoddy manufacture to keep costs down, or so specific to be inflexible. My Archos case is not big enough to carry my headphones in their protective clamshell for instance... but I can get a number of different cases that would work great at the local camera store.

To be honest, the best "OEM" case I've used is the one for the Empeg. I wish it were a little larger to carry more connectors and the power supply. And who's idea was it for the pocket to open on the bottom when using the side handle? tsk tsk tsk...