text: Gadget of the Year: iPod mini  #147;The Apple iPod mini, at \$249, is my choice as 2004 #146;s hottest high-tech gadget, #148; writes Mike Wendland in the Detroit Free Press.  #147;All of the iPods are awesome. But this little package, weighing in at 3.6 ounces, a half-inch thick and the size of a business card, is so slick and so sleek that all I can say is: Sweet  #133; And it delivers a sound quality so big and so pristine that it #146;s hard to believe it #146;s coming from something so tiny. It #146;s cutting-edge, high-tech chicness. #148; Dec 10