I actually dont really know the exact technical specifications
and software specs between 3.1.3 v 4.1.
Your only concern is perhaps jailbreaking.
I owned the touch 3g and 4g, and I must say that the 4g lags
slightly when scrolling as compared to the 3g.
For your 2g ipod touch, you cannot fully take advantage of
ios4.0 above due to your inferior cpu compared to 3g and 4g.
I would think that it would only be logical that the performace
in the 2g will decrease as the software upgrades. Cause they
upgrade to take advantage of the latest technical specifications
they currently have, and that is the itouch/phone 4g.
Apps with the + sign will take advantage of the CPU in 3g and 4g
touches.
Besides that I dont really know. Can only give feedback on user
experience thats all.