It's a gimmick, they took bits from PSP and crammed them into a DS, but removed BW compatibility.
When the guy in Gamestation tried to get me to reserve one, my initial question was "what makes this better than DS?"
He went on a bit about being able to store music, take pictures and download games, I told him my PSP does this just fine, in fact better (for music and film anyway). He then said that DSi can play any nes, snes or GBA game ever made via download, again i told him my PSP does that, but will play Megadrive, PS1 and Arcade games too (due to CFW). He then said DSi had a touch screen. I kindly pointed out my current DS has one of those.
I asked him does it offer anything worthwhile as a stand alone console to someone who owns a PSP and a previous DS. He mumbled something then pretended to have to check something.
Long story short, the DSi isn't worth the extortionate price tag, especially when it's fundamentally the same as the DS, with a bunch of haphazard and limited extras thrown in.
I think you're being rather cynical here. Firstly, it's not exactly fair to include features that involve playing roms, when you're complaining about commercial systems. If you want to go down that road, you can get a netbook for a fraction more and emulate the above consoles quite effectively.
Without purchasing extra accessories, the PSP couldn't take photos last time I checked. The PSP has taken a while to drop from it's initial price, which was far more than the DSi, so it's not such an economical advantage.
The fact is, you're comparing a combination of consoles, saying that they all cover the features that the DSi has, but you're getting these features all in one console. You're perfectly within your right to be content using both the PSP and the DS, but it's there for people that want it. It makes more sense for someone to purchase this than to purchase a DSL and a PSP, unless they want the PSP Games. If there was another console that was in every way equal or superior at a lesser price, then it's fine to call the DSi a wrought, but it's safe to assume that a new console with far more features is going to be worth more, at least for the time being.
I understand that you don't have the need for it, but that's like walking into a car dealer and informing them that you already have a car that does exactly what you need it to, so they should drop their price before you get offended. Props for being articulate, though. I rarely enjoy reading posts. :D
I have to be honest, I'm not getting one yet. That's because I'm happy enough with my console for the time being and don't want to spend my money, regardless of what it costs (keep in mind I never bothered getting the DS lite, either) and I don't have the time to spend playing games on my DS, letalone a DSi. At this point in time, it simply doesn't suit me, but I'm not condemning Nintendo, nor ruling out getting a DSi in the future.