Is it really all about aesthetics

i wouldn't say apple products are all about aesthetics, but i would say aesthetics can be a major factor when it comes to their products.

the ipod would probably be the best example of this, although clearly the ipod is a very good piece of hardware, i think its fair to say lots of people buy ipods because they are "the must have gadget".

i personally own a ipod touch, and i know for a fact one of reasons i bought it is because i like its design, although it wasn't a major factor for me.

saying that, i can't see me ever paying for an apple computer, the premium over a pc is far to much, for far to less.

Dell make custom computers, they have their own software, it's not anything special though.
What you mean is windows
Windows programs suck but they aer just the base, there are lots of programs for windows like Sony Vegas Pro 9 or Adobe Photoshop that are powerful and simple to use media editing software, on the level of the mac software, i don't know but i do know that there is much more of it (third party software)

I own an ipod because it is the only portable media player that is easily available for a low(ish) cost and can store the amount of music and video which it does store.
I never had any desire to get the Itouch because it seemed so gimmiky- an iPhone that's not a phone is how i see it.

really?
im actually put of the ipod (normal one) because of its price and lack of features.
for me there are plenty of other mp3 players out there which can do the what the ipod can but better and for cheaper.

i used to think the same of the ipod touch, until i used one.
its actually very very good, the interface is probably the best you can get, the sound quality is good (although there are plenty of other mp3s players out there which outshine it easily)

and it has some really useful features, for example it has wifi and it has the ability to retrieve your emails from your email account automatically when it is connected to wifi, so that means as soon as i step into my house i have access to my emails without having to log on to my computer.

I dunno, I don't really like other mp3 plays because the longest I am able to keep on of them running isn't usually more than two or three months, they also seem more prone to glitching out and refusing to play certain tracks and stuff of that nature, ipod has a few of these problems but seemingly a lot less often and when it does happen you just need to resync or restart the ipod.
The itouch is fair enough and i almost bought one, but i would rather just spend the extra and get the iphone or one of the competitors to it because... well i dunno, just seems like A 16 GB wouldn't be nearly enough for me, my current ipod has nearly 60 GB of stuff on it :/ I listen to 90% of the music and wouldn't really like to lose any of the films, there's also eh problem that I don't get any emails from anyone and I don't feel enticed by any of the apps or any of that stuff

Whatever though, it's up to yourself.