When Apple started selling iPods they also offered personalization through lazer engraving. Naturally you could not do much but you could engrave a small message on the back of your iPod. Surprisingly the discussion at the time was not about the illusion of individuality in a mass consumer society. The main annoyance seemed to be about the words which were not allowed to be engraved on the iPod.
Now there is an alternative reason why companies are keen on allowing us to personalize our stuff. The Consumerist reports:
Ever wonder why some places will engrave your electronics for free? It’s so you can’t return them. Really. That’s the reason. Returns of perfectly good, non-defective merchandise account for 95% of returns and “free engraving” is a cheap, easy way to ensure that that item won’t be coming back.
Cool! It’s nice to see that there is an underlying evil reason for this seemingly friendly gesture – it restores my faith in the world.
Actually on the issue on personalization I must admit to engraving my last two laptops. Pics on Flickr.