Could it be time to say good-bye to the classic click wheel style iPod? At least one person thinks so.

The iPod Classic is the last iPod to retain the original form factor, and it is also the last one to use a physical hard drive. In 2007 the iPod Classic went up to a 160 GB at its highest capacity, but at the 2008 iPod event, the largest size dropped down to 120 GB, and that seemed to be the first indication that the hard drive based iPods were probably on their last legs.

Well, Marco.org is playing arm-chair quarterback leading up to the iPod event this coming Wednesday, and the article makes some compelling arguments for why the Classic is probably already dead.  Sadly the biggest argument is that there just aren’t enough people who need that much space on their iPod any more…

-cough-

As someone who carries a 160 GB iPod Classic, I would argue that point!

I do see their point, and they say the big push is now going to be towards the iPod Touch being the main part of the product line, but I see some real problems with that.  Ignoring the whole space issue, there is the navigation problem with the device.  The click wheel is simple and always ready for commands, but with the Touch you need to start it up, unlock the screen, navigate to where you need to be, etc.  This is going to be a lot tougher when using it in the gym, while walking or especially while driving.

The Classic may be on its way out, but there is something to be said for simple navigation devices, and for that reason I will miss the Classic.