Macworld announced the winners of their 22nd annual Editors’ Choice Awards yesterday, and the Nike+iPod Sport Kit was among the 29 winners. While that in itself isn’t very surprising, what is surprising is that the Sport Kit was the only iPod-related product to make the list. No shuffle, no nano, not even the toilet paper dispenser dock.

This has me thinking about whether or not the iPod accessory industry is in a bit of a rut lately. Not in terms of sales, but creativity. iPod accessories have certainly become more varied and more refined to be sure, but there’s a certain lack of imagination recently, and I think these awards help confirm that. I mean, how many different speakers, cases, and armbands do we really need? (Ok, we could use a few more cases and armbands that accommodate the iPod nano and Sport Kit receiver.) The success of the Nike+iPod Sport Kit shows that we’re only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the functionality and utility that can be added to our iPods. Hopefully it’s inspiring developers to start thinking outside the leather case.

See the full list of Macworld 2006 Editors’ Choice Award winners. Readers’ Choice Award winners will be announced on Thursday 12/14.

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