I bought the D90 because it excels at many levels over prior consumer level Nikon DSLR's. It is hands down a superior camera to my D50 and the D200 I tried last year. I did not buy the D90 because it has video nor would I reject it because it has video. I have no idea if I will ever use the video feature, but when Christmas rolls around and the Grandkids are opening pictures I may very well welcome the video feature.
If you don’t have a need for video, don’t use it, I don't smoke so I don't use the ashtray in my truck. The same same can be said for shooting in raw, or using Commander Mode, or any of the other features found on the D90, simply ignore it if you don't need it. I know people who disdain flash and only shoot in natural light and they have no use for a pop-up flash, iTTL, or Commander Mode. I also know professional photographers who never take a shot without flash and/or flood lights, who state that photography is all about light and that it makes far more sense to adjust the light than it does to try and adjust the camera to the light.
I’d wager that the 920,000 HD LCD (which is fantastic and has to be seen to be believed) came out of the R&D that went into developing the video/live view mode. Essentially if a DSLR has live view it has video, it is after all a video feed that is being viewed on the LCD, and therefore everything physically needed, except firmware, is present for video.
The SLR has been around since the Fifties, but its demise is probably not to far in the future. Phil said it very well in his preview of the Lumix DMC-G1,
“When you consider the incredible flexibility offered by digital capture (unencumbered by the physical need to put the film behind the lens and to advance it frame by frame) it's perhaps surprising that the digital interchangeable lens camera has remained so firmly rooted in a basic design that hasn't changed since the 1950's. The single lens reflex does its job very well, but building a camera around a mirror box seriously ties the designer's hands - not only in the physical size and shape of the body, but in the lenses too “.
In the coming years there is going to be a virtual revolution in digital cameras, and the die-hard traditionalists will be too few to keep the DSLR’s profitable for companies like Nikon and Canon. Professionals will be forced to adopt new technology because their livelihood depends on it; tradition is a poor substitute for performance in the business world.
I was a U.S. Marine and the United States Marine Corps. Is strong on tradition, but tradition has never stopped them from adopting better training methods, new technology, or better weapons if it make the individual Marine a better fighting machine. I can’t understand people who stand on tradition and won’t accept that which may make them a better photographer. The D90 is the latest and best consumer model out of Nikon and the inclusion of video in no way diminishes its capabilities as a still-image camera.
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Brooks
http://bmiddleton.smugmug.com/ 
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