As an aside... I just received my iPod MINI from Citibank (they were giving them away to anyone who signed up for one of their checking accounts, and deposited at least $2,500). I really like the little device. It works well with both my music and Audible books. The battery life appears to be less than advertised, however (I say "appears", because I haven't let it run down to empty yet - I am going by the LED indicator on the screen).
Citibank is now offering a free iPod Shuffle in exchange for signing up for one of their credit cards. I just signed up for that deal, so I should be able to report back on the iPod Shuffle in a couple of months.
Oh, the iPod battery indicators are notoriously unreliable. Sometimes the indicator will go down by a third after having it on for 30 minutes; sometimes it'll keep playing for two hours after the indicator goes to zero.
Using it in cold weather will make it even worse. After leaving mine in my coat pocket a couple of months ago, the indicator was blank when I turned it on, and didn't show any power at all until after it had been playing for an hour.
It's best to run it down all the way about once a month, though, to increase the overall longevity of the battery. When it gets to true zero, the music will stop and the screen will display "The iPod is out of power. Connect to a power source immediately." (or something along those lines), then about 10 seconds later, pfft.
I have been curious how the MINI works with audio books. I haven't been able to figure out what their capacity is...can you help?