I like the click wheel, I don't like having to scroll through thousands of artists with it though. For me, that's where the touchscreen is better.
Even if your fingers are in the way, you see the same amount of stuff that you'd see on the click wheel iPod too. When looking through artists, your thumb would be around the same area you'd put it on the wheel.
If you're left-handed, your fingers would cover the artist pictures/covers, and if you're right-handed,it would be the excess white space on the other side.
Only becomes an issue with albums, but come on, if you don't know your albums track by track... I do anyway! 😛.