On the whole, it appears that Apple is getting great marks for its fall musical event, where a new lineup of iPods debuted. And, despite using a guitar on the invitation (denoting only music), Apple also upgraded its favorite hobby product, the Apple TV.

It seems, as usual, that some members of the media have concerns about the gear Apple presented, and deeper concerns about some of the features and perhaps products that weren’t part of the agenda, such as a new iLife and perhaps an upgrade for the aging MacBook Air. Certainly there are valid points to raise, or at least they seem valid on the surface.

Take the fact that the new iPod nano doesn’t let you view movies, nor take videos. Why would Apple remove two perfectly useful features? Was it all a compromise to switch to a square case design, or was there a deeper purpose in their removal?

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You just know that when Apple holds a special event, everything will be coming up roses. There’s never bad news, even when products or features vanish from the lineup.

Ahead of the new product announcements at Apple’s special event this week, among the more fascinating numbers was the one indicating that some 120 million iOS devices have been sold, with some 230,000 new activations per day. During his presentation, Steve Jobs reminded the audience that other companies deliver seemingly impressive numbers that do not only reflect new activations, but upgrades from previous products..

At the same time, despite rumors to the contrary, Apple announced the release of iOS 4.1 with the iPhone 4 proximity sensor fix, along with fixes for Bluetooth and performance issues on the iPhone 3G. The new update also adds HDR photo support, to let you take pictures with greater dynamic range, the ability to upload HD video over Wi-Fi, TV show rentals and the introduction of the promised Game Center.

The update, for the iPhone and iPod touch, will appear next week.

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You know you can buy a netbook running Windows for less than $300, but the very cheapest Mac, the mini, is now $699. You also know that you can get a smartphone with the Google Android OS on it for next to nothing, but the cheapest iPhone is last year’s 3GS, at $99 with a two-year contract.

Now it’s also true that the very cheapest smartphone will probably handle the basics reasonably well. You’ll be able to make and receive phone calls on them, and be limited by your carrier’s network in your neighborhood. There will be email, Web browsing and other features you expect from such a device. Input will be done via touchscreen, tiny keyboard, or both in the more powerful models.

Certainly any plain PC will also be able to handle basic chores without a whole lot of pain, such as Internet access, email, and running some basic productivity apps. And, despite the claims to the contrary in Consumer Reports, you need a fairly powerful PC with a good graphics card for gaming. But CR lives in another universe when the real world is concerned.

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You know that Apple is, nowadays, earning far more income from mobile products than from Macs. Right now, more people own products powered by iOS than powered by Mac OS X, so you begin to wonder where this all might be heading.

Recently, Apple applied for a patent covering touchscreens on regular Macs, which would appear to mean that you’ll be able to use them in roughly the same fashion as an iPhone or iPod touch, counting for the differences in screen size.

The possibility of running the iOS under — or in place of — Mac OS X has also gained traction among people who love to speculate about what Apple is up to.

There is also that statement that Steve Jobs made before he returned to Apple, that the company he co-founded should milk the Mac for all its worth, and then move on to the next great thing. That thing, it appears, must be the iOS, and now that it is more popular than the Mac, are we seeing the handwriting on the wall?

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