If one component is omnipresent this year, it's the iPod. You may find this hard to believe, but there are actually companies making iPod accessories these days—actually, it's hard to find companies that aren't.

I was really taken by the stuff in Sonic Impact's booth, especially the $149 i-Fusion, which hoses speakers, a docking station, class-D amp, headphone storage, and DSP to make the tiny speakers sound pretty decent.

No, this won't replace my office system, bit I sure wish I could have convinced Big Rich Bracke that I needed to take the sample set back to my hotel with me.

The i-Fusion is light, practical, and, best of all, cheap enough to be an impulse purchase. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and see if money talks.