I'm getting an iPod touch tomorrow. In my excitement, I bought the 2.0 software upgrade today. I don't actually have the iPod yet. I thought it would just download to my Applications folder but now I don't see it anywhere. Will iTunes recognize that I have paid for the upgrade when I install the iPod touch for the first time and upgrade the software or have I just flushed $9.95?
It'll recognize that you've bought it and will download when you click update. There's just no point for it to download a large file like that right away if your iPod is not plugged in. Once you've paid for it, though, you can download the ipsw as many times as you want.