Thanks to great timing (my trusty iPod mini gave up the ghost and Apple introduced its sixth-generation iPods just in time for my recent birthday), my wife treated me to a new iPod Touch today. It's slick, it's shiny, and it plays all my music just like the old one did. And it also surfs the Web — although, thanks to its absurd lack of support for Adobe Flash (Again, what the hell, Steve?), it doesn't actually reach most of the Web I use daily.

Still, its touch-screen is impressive, and it offers most of the same features as the much-cherished iPhone, without that pesky burning sensation one usually gets after a night with AT&T.

I think I like it so far, but I can't help but feel it's been hobbled at the factory: Its Calendar app doesn't actually do much more than show you a calendar (You wouldn't want to mess up that pretty calendar with any sort of input!), it doesn't allow direct access to its drive contents, and it doesn't have… well… anything on it, really. None of the mapping, stock-tracking or other application/widgets that the iPhone includes. And no games. Dang it, even the iPod 1 had Brickout.

I hear rumors that third-party apps should be coming soon, and to be fair, many people weren't even aware the stores had the iPod Touch yet, so I'm not giving up on it just yet. I'll wait to see what the community can put together for it before I really start complaining.

Meanwhile, time to migrate some music over…