The way I see it, there are no worries. Just don't bother with a DSi if you want to use flashcarts. Get a DSlite instead. I'm considering buying another DSlite and keeping it in its box unopened (other than to verify no dead pixels and fully functional, blah, blah, blah) for if ever my current DSlite dies/breaks/quits (whatever) and Ninty stops producing them.
There are MILLIONS of DSphat and lites still out there. Nintendo won't instantaneously kill them off and leave us in the dust. They will still make DS games on carts, hackers will still dump them for download. Those will still work just fine on our old DS's. Nothing will really change, except that the people who buy a DSi will be screwed for the flashcart luxury.....at least for a while. Once the hackers figure out how to crack the DSi (like making the cart "look" like an official game initially to the DSi), everything will continue on like it's been doing for years now. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the special DSi download content ends up at ROM sites for us to play on our old DS's eventually.
All Ninty is doing with the DSi is slowing down piracy a little. They will NEVER completely stop it. IF the DSi actually proves to be unhackable (without modding it internally) it probably won't sell as well since hackers and pirates wouldn't be interested in it.
So, like I said, no worries. As long as you still have your DS phat or lite, who cares what they do with the DSi.
