Since my iPod broke I have become surprisingly well-acclimated to running in silence. I find myself relaxing into my run in a way I haven’t done in years, since the days when the only “portable music player” was this.

But then it rained, and rained, and rained, and I was forced onto the treadmill to keep up my mileage. Treadmills are boring, and I needed music. I called up the Apple Store to find out what it would take to replace the battery on my Mini.

Bottom line: $56 and two trips to the nearest Genius Bar, 17 miles away. One trip would be to get the Genius to agree that the problem was the battery. Then they would send my Mini back and get me a reconditioned Mini, which I would pick up on my second trip.

Cost of a new Shuffle: $79.

Hmm. I hate hate hate junking pricey and almost-perfectly-good computer equipment. But I also hate driving to the mall. Factor in the price of gas and the price of my time, which I bill by the hour…

My new Shuffle is a very pretty green. Also, it is tiny! I had no idea they had evolved from stick-of-gum to postage-stamp size, but this thing is so thin and small I can clip it to my shirt collar. In fact, when I took it out for its maiden run I was worried that it was so light I wouldn’t notice if it fell off. I had to remind myself that if the music suddenly went quiet, that would be a clue to stop and check the ground.

It stayed put for five miles, and I did not miss the tourniquet armband that kept the Mini in place, not one bit. Also, since the Shuffle was so close to my face, I did not have earphone wires dangling all over and getting jerked out of the player by the motion of my arms.

It holds 240 songs, which is 44 more peppy suitable-for-running songs than I have in my current collection. Fully loaded, that’s twelve-odd hours of music. I’m training for a ten-mile run in July, which means that I should have enough music to get me through the race, plus a few hours’ worth to keep me calm during my wait in the emergency room afterwards.

I think we are going to be very happy together.