Slate.com takes on the case of the missing iTunes customer service number, which I don't think is unique to iTunes or Apple. All companies would rather have you navigate their homepages for hours on end than hire some outsourced hillbilly with a slurry mumble at minimum wage. I think the thing we have to learn from all companies is this: they don't want us to call. They're checking their caller ID, seeing "paying customer", and turning the ringer off. We're like bad dates, looking to see what Corporate America is doing this weekend, and you know what? They'll lie and say they have plans with friends, or maybe they're going out of town. But they don't and they're not. We just can't take the hint They don't like our squeeky voices, they don't like the long silences between words, the stumbling, or the way we keep using "basically" to start every other sentence. Corporate America just came out of a long-term relationship and really just wants to be friends, so send the occasional e-mail, but don't worry about calling.