I won't buy the thing because it's obviously a premature piece of shit, I want some games on it now and definitely coming next year, but the fact that it has a shit battery life, a mutant second analog attachment, and a self destroying clam shell case for the screen, makes me think there is a lot of room to improve. I actually find this topic really stupid, most of us are pretty into our gaming, to a point that we can hold off on one device because we have many others, if all I wanted to play was 3ds software I could see the point in accepting a horribly flawed initial design, but looking at Nintendo's track record with portables dictates I will never buy a first model from them. And I haven't since the GBA.
First GB design: Could barely see the screen, huge, took lots of batteries.
Second: Gameboy pocket, bigger screen, clear, better battery, much thinner.
Gameboy advance: What's that castlevania? We can't see you, that's ok pull out the worm light, oh god horrible glare, that's ok nintendo will just port tons of games and fuck up their coloring because you can't see the damn screen.
Gameboy SP: Nice! I can see the games I bought!
The original ds was.. acceptable, but definitely still vastly inferior to the lite I think, nintendo usually hit's a solid point with their second model, and by that time there will be enough games to play at good prices to make the thing really worth entering my home. For now, I will continue to play my 360/ps3/wii games and somehow, someway, manage to survive without having a crappy first revision 3ds. Considering how rocky the 3ds has started, I expect a new revision sooner than usual as well, next year or early 2013 at the latest.
I don't think a second analog is a 'given' but I do think they will add it, so they don't have to keep making that add on abomination, it may be optional but if every game USES IT and simply allows for shittier controls without, who gives a fuck to own the original 3ds then?