My Red Ryder B.B. Gun for this year is an M-AUDIO MicroTrack 24/96.

These guys have been talking quite a bit about the Nokia 770, which Christian should find under his Christmas tree if he's lucky enough to find one (their online store warns that current orders cannot be fulfilled until February). I admit the 770 looks like a fun development platform, but the official first item on my Christmas wish list is the M-AUDIO MicroTrack 24/96. For $100 more than a 60GB iPod, I could have an affordable mobile audio solution that can also record hi-fi audio (see here for not affordable). The included 64MB CompactFlash card is only enough to record short meetings and lectures. But with a 2GB (or larger) MicroDrive, it's perfect for sneaking into clubs to tape live shows in lossless 24-bit/96kHz glory. And a hell of a lot easier to deal with than DAT. It also comes bundled with Audacity, a free software sample editor that's available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Too cool!

OK OK, the 770 is on the list now, too.