"It almost seems as if the Shuffle and Nano are now just there to encourage you to dig deeper and just buy the Touch instead, rather than wandering around with something that's just unnecessarily crippled."
That's why Ford sells Mustangs, so you'll buy a Lincoln. he Mustang is crippled.
That's why Nikon offers crippled point and shoot digicams, so you'll buy a DSLR.
That's why Apple sells crippled iPads, so you are encouraged to buy an AirBook. So you're encouraged to buy a MacBook. So you're encouraged to by an iMac.
Actually, Apple sells the unnecessarily crippled Touch so you'll be sure to purchase the iPhone.