Actually informative discussion over at Slashdot about why it’s so hard to get a good deal on iPod. The short answer: Apple exercises an unusual amount of control over what their resellers can charge, so they’re able to keep the prices from dropping below a certain level. So you can either pay what they want you to pay (or pretty close to it) or buy one of the myriad of other, more competitively priced MP3 players that are out there.
