12 weekdays, 12 gifts, not a partridge or pear tree amongst them.  And no golden rings either.  The goal is to keep these affordable (which is honestly, tough to define) but still interesting.  At the very least these should be idea starters.  Click here for the previous days.

This is the iPod for the man on the move who wants to keep things sleek and simple.

It has enough room for 500 songs.  Carries a charge that’ll give you 15 hours of audio playback.  And most importantly it’s tiny.  So small that you can easily slip it in your inside jacket pocket and completely forget it’s there.

But when the baby a few rows up on your flight starts to get fussy?  You’ll be glad it is.

You also might want to stop carrying your bulky old (or bulky new) iPod or iPhone around on a goofy looking armband while working out.  This thing is only $40.  Lose that deck of cards shaped gizmo strapped to your tricep and clip this to your shorts instead.

I don’t worship at the Alter of Jobs often.  But this time, I have to hand it to him.  These things are incredible.

What’s your preferred mp3 player?  Leave it in the comments section below, and make your case.

Cheap, small, and pretty tough.

Originally Published 5/4/2010

NOTE: Since this post was published, the brand new 4th Generation Shuffle has debuted, and Apple has gone back to the features that made the 2nd generation so popular. But also note my personal 2nd generation is coming up on 4 years old, has been run through conditions ranging from -6 degrees to 105, dropped, stepped on, been played with by some rambunctious cats, and it’s still going strong.

Even Apple can screw up.  They never should have redesigned the iPod Shuffle. Because the third generation is far inferior to the second.

The second generation is small, has buttons on the body, and is almost indestructible.  The third generation ditched the buttons on the body in favor of a headphone cord that has the controls on it. Really bad idea Jobs.

The ipod Shuffle was born to be used while working out.  And if you happen to sweat when you workout (here’s a fitness tip: you should) the controls on the 3rd generation are right there on the cord, ready to be flooded with your drippings.  Once those headphones go, you’re SOL on using it until you get another pair of apple headphones with the controls on it.  Not any old pair will do.

If you want your music in a small, light, tough package that can clip to your gym shorts on a run or easily stow inside your jacket pocket on a flight, stick with the second generation.

It wasn’t broke, but… Apple, being the king of “fixing” things that aren’t… tried to fix the ipod shuffle anyway.

The best ipod out there, bar none… is the second generation of the Ipod shuffle.  Its limitations are few.  You can’t reorganize songs while you’re away from your computer.  Yes, you’ll have to set that playlist before you unplug it and hit the road.  But it’s extremely easy and quick to skip around between songs with the easy to use buttons.  And there is that, uh… “shuffle” option.  There is no screen (obviously) either.  But if you’re hell bent on watching re-runs of Lost on a 2-inch screen… well then yes, you’ll have to go with a different option.

It’s downright tiny, it’s light, it clips perfectly onto your running shorts.  Two minutes into my run I forget it’s there.  And unlike the newest ipod shuffle, the controls are NOT on the headphone cord.  So if your headphones bite the dust, which mine often do… you can go out and buy any pair you want.  With the new shuffle they have to be the Apple headphones.

That’s a nifty and sneaky way to make more money, now isn’t it.

The Third Generation has 4GB of space, but… the 1GB you get with the second generation gives you enough space for 240 songs.  If you just gotta have all 453 of the songs you’ve downloaded instantly accessible, then by all means go with the newest of the new.  I’m sure you and the guy sitting next to you squinting and trying to watch Lost will understand each other.

($50.00 is too steep you say?  Get a re-furbished blue one from Overstock.com for $36.99)