Where technology is concerned, we all know smaller is better. Apple also knows this. So they made their pretty little iPod prettier and smaller, and the world acknowledged their artistic talent and efforts, and this week Apple received for their iPod Shuffle the Design Week Award for Best Consumer Product Design. Standing ovations, please!

Consumers around the world bought the petite digital music player because it is a great player and it looks really good. Now we've got expert confirmation that the little gadget is a truly unique device, with a design worth being awarded. "It feels a bit unfair to all the other entries, which were mainly very good indeed, that Apple should again win pole position", said the judges.

It was the "relentless commitment to innovative and evolutionary design, and its attention to detail" that brought Apple yet another design award. Apple presented with several products from their design team, all excellent entries, but the judges felt the iPod Shuffle was the only one "truly 'new'".

The iPod Shuffle won the hearts (and votes) of the Design Week Award judges by being a "simple, beautifully executed concept" with a minimalist, innovative look. The smallest lightweight digital music player was phrased for "taking portability and convenience to new heights".

The iPod Shuffle is a very small (1.62 inches long), highly-portable digital music player that you can clip on anything. It comes in five brilliant colors - silver, pink, green, blue, and orange - and holds 1GB of music (about 240 songs).

You can download your songs from the iTunes online store, at 99 cents a piece. Apple sells the iPod Shuffle for 79 US dollars.