You're wrong. It's not the matter of deserving, it's the matter of Apple price policy. With touch 3rd and iPhone 3GS, according to Apple ppl deserved to have all the features except GSM/camera for 200$, not 500$. That strategy changed with iPod touch 4gen, as we all see it's got many more inferior features to the iPhone than previus iPod touch generations.
The overarching strategy didn't change, which is iPod touch < iPhone. It's a question of which features to chop out of the iPhone to yield the the touch. Previous years they chopped out phone, 3G, camera, microphone and GPS from iPhone to yield a touch. This year they chopped out phone, 3G, GPS, the good 5MP camera in lieu of an inferior camera, and possibly the IPS screen in lieu of a TN screen of same resolution.
It's really a matter of opinion what one would rather have chopped. I'm pretty happy with what Apple came up with this year, particularly the dual cameras with HD rear video cam. Photos are just easier to manage transferring to a comp, editing, printing, storing, so I have no problems taking pictures with a DSLR camera. Videos just are really painful to deal with from a software standpoint, so I just hate taking videos. I am hoping and expecting videos on an iPod touch will be readily transferred to a Mac, edited and burned to DVD.
I could give a flying turd about the difference between IPS and TN on a 4" screen.
It seems to me Apple has struck a good balance this year. You still have some whiners and moaners who will be available to buy future upgrades, and you have some people who are happy. I think ultimately 2010-2011 iPod touch sales will grow over 2009-2010 sales. Mission accomplished for Apple. Again, bottom line is iPod touch < iPhone. Twas always thus and always thus will be. Recognize this, then you'll be able to temper any disappointments.