Owned 1st, 2nd 4th, and the current model.
I've prob saved 5k in money by not having to sign up for a phone contract
Average "low-end" smartphone contract is around $70-80. Add in another $15 in taxes and fees and other miscellaneous BS charges, you really pay around $90 monthly for the "basic" text/data/voice plan for an iPhone (non family plan). So in 5 years, that comes up to around $5400.
I love my iPod touch! Still have an old flip phone where I grandfathered a voice/text plan for $29 monthly. That handles all my telephone needs. The iPod touch does everything else (including all the App Store apps).