The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

In a shopping crunch? Looking for something simple but useful you can give to an iPod enthusiast at the last second? Want to find a gift you can gift-wrap along with an iPod or throw into a stocking? Here are five of our favorites.

Gift Card: Nothing accessorizes an iPod better than music itself. You can pick up gift cards at many major retailers like Target in a variety of attractive patterns for as little as $15 worth of tunes.

Docks: Docks provide convenient stands for your iPods to keep your desk neat during re-charging. Standard iPods come with docking connectors but not with docks themselves. Many simple third party docks are both inexpensive and extremely useful. You can pick up a low-end dock for under twenty dollars.

Battery boosters: A rechargeable battery booster can really make a difference when you're traveling with your iPod, especially when you play games or watch video. You can purchase a Belkin Tunepower, for example, to provide rechargeable on-the-go power for about sixty bucks.

Noise-canceling Earphones: Noise canceling earphones do not get rid of all noises like conversations or that crying baby. They do cut down on a certain type of repetitive ambient environment sounds like the kind produced by airplane engines. The upshot is that you can lower the volume of your iPod and save your ears a bit by using them. For people who do a lot of airplane travel, a good quality set of noise-canceling earphones can be a great iPod accessory for under fifty dollars.

Battery-free speakers: Rather than carry around a normal large and awkward set of speakers to use with your iPod, you can find inexpensive speaker add-ons that plug directly into the connection port at the bottom of your iPod. (The one shown here is from FifthUnit). Yeah, the sound quality is not optimal but it's nice to be able to have the whole thing work as a single unit. Expect to pay about ten to twenty dollars.