We saw them disappear in cities from coast to coast. 

Some people who took the iPods still had them, but others had no idea they were stolen.

Either way, using basic information similar to what Apple gets when an iPod communicates with its database, we'd successfully tracked down more than half of the missing gadgets.

Remember, all we did was put out new iPods to get our information when the machines were registered online.

We know some stolen iPods could probably never be tracked, because some are probably never hooked up to a computer.

But the question is, if we were able to track iPods could Apple do something similar -- or something else -- to discourage theft?

There are some iPod owners who believe the answer is yes.

But when this man, whose iPod was stolen, called Apple for help…

Joe: They pretty much told me that I was ---- out of luck and there was nothing I could do and nothing they can do.

And that's the same message received by Alain Ferry when his girlfriend's iPod was stolen.

Ferry called Apple thinking because of all the technology at its disposal that the company could trace it for him. 

Apple said it couldn't help.

Chris Hansen: What was your attitude when you hung up the phone with Apple?

Ferry: I'm going to figure something to do. I'll come up with a solution here … Apple could do something. And I'm going to make sure that everyone knows that Apple could do something.

So, Ferry started a campaign of sorts. First, in 2006, the law school graduate set up a Web site called stoleniPods.com. He asked for comments from visitors and received thousands of e-mails like this one…

Ferry: “I don't care if they call in SWAT, break in their doors and beat them within an inch of death. I just want my iPod back.”

But what began with e-mails has become a movement of angry iPod owners convinced Apple could find their iPods -- and the thieves.

Hansen: Why should Apple be held accountable if somebody gets their iPod stolen?

Ferry: Oh, I'm not saying that they should be held accountable. I just want them to do more than they're doing.

We should say that many of iPod's competitors in the mp3 market apparently don't do anything more than Apple does to track missing machines.

But it's not uncommon for high-tech companies to help when some products are lost or stolen.

If you lose your cell phone, some wireless companies will shut it off and flag the phone as stolen if it's ever brought in for service.

If your computer's lost or stolen, software like Lojack for laptops can lead you to it.  The computer, when hooked to the Internet, sends a silent signal to the headquarters of Absolute Software in Vancouver, British Columbia -- and voila! Police are alerted about where to find the stolen item.

And if you call Hewlett Packard, Dell or Gateway, to name a few, their customer service reps will take down a computer's serial number and flag it as stolen if it ever turns up.

But what about Apple?

Detective Richard Kenney's called the company for help solving cases involving stolen iPods.

But with 110 million iPods out there and sales dwarfing those other products, maybe the answer he got is not so surprising.

Det. Kenney: Apple's response is that due to the overwhelming numbers of iPods that they manufacture and sell each year that they cannot create a database with that kind of information.

Watch what happens when we asked this retired detective we hired as a consultant to call Apple corporate security. He introduced himself as an investigator attempting to get information about a stolen iPod.

Clancy: Apple does not flag any items? Do you know why?

Clancy: They said the sheer volume of thefts and, um, disputes in schools alone would overwhelm them.

Here's another scenario. What if you found someone's iPod and wanted Apple's help returning it?

This woman bought an iPod from someone she met in a bar.

She began to suspect it was stolen when she noticed someone else's name engraved on the back. She then contacted stoleniPods.com founder Alain Ferry, who put her in touch with Dateline.

Melinda: I heard that Apple helps reunite the owner of the iPod.

We decided to try to help solve her problem. So we sent her to an Apple store in New York City to try to return the iPod, with a hidden camera recording her every move.

(Hidden camera)

Melinda: I had buyer's remorse the next day because it doesn't belong to me. Do you help people reunite them and their iPods?

Apple: You're doing all the right things because we can't look up, even if we could look it up we can't guarantee that the name attached to it is the right person.

Melinda: Couldn't you like, take the information and then try to contact him?

Apple: It's a matter of not only liability, but privacy, so we're not allowed to do any of that. Honestly.

She then went to a second Apple store.

The manager at this store did look up the iPod's registration and serial number.

Apple: There's a registration. It's been registered by someone. So there's info about that person…

Melinda: So Matt--can contact him and say someone found your iPod?

Apple: That's your call…

And that's what happened.

The manager returned this stolen iPod to its rightful owner.

This iPod story has a happy ending.

Ferry: I think it's pretty simple!

It's exactly the case Alain Ferry, who runs stoleniPods.com, has been trying to make.

Ferry: Apple needs to recognize that they've created a device, a product that is so incredibly successful that it's become a commodity on the black market. Change things around a little bit. You know -- be the pioneer that they've always been. Think different!

And guess what? We just learned that Apple may be doing exactly that, and may end up being the hero of our story.

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