iPod marketing conspiracy: iPod is running a new promotion for Christmas. Here's how it works: You order an iPod online and when you go to check out, they tell you they will engrave a personalized name or message on the back of you iPod at no extra cost to you. It's FREE! So you think, "great!" and you write your name or some cute little message to your sister and you've got the perfect Christmas gift. But here's my theory about the conspiracy behind this: iPod wants us to think they are just being nice and upgrading our item for free, but really they are trying to limit resale through eBay, classifieds, etc. Because really... who wants to buy a used iPod if the back of it is engraved with the phrase "Jim and Ralph forever" if the person buying the iPod is neither Jim nor Ralph? This so called "free feature" is really just a way of ensuring that everytime someone wants an iPod they go directly to Apple rather than shopping around on eBay for a used one at a bargain price. Tricky, tricky.