Where art thou, iPod Shuffle?

The retooled second-gen iPod Shuffle looks like a nice impulse buy at $79. That is, when it actually ships. Apple's press release (and Web store) states that the "world's smallest" MP3 player will ship in October. Pretty vague, especially if you're a fanboy/girl who can't wait to clip that thing on. To me, "October" defaults to midmonth, so if we don't see a Shuffle soon, might it be delayed? Or will we see a strategic late-October ship date to kick-start the holiday season? Our latest call in to the San Francisco Apple Store this morning revealed that they "are still waiting for shipments."

(Photo: Apple Computer)