There is an interesting article on Wired about a theory that the popularity of iPods (and similar devices) combined with their high resale rate and portability may have caused the spike in crime rates that has been seen over the past few years.

“The Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, first raised the subject of an “iCrime wave” last September, and held a panel discussion Tuesday to explore it further. The researchers don’t blame iPod maker Apple Inc. or any other device maker for crime, but they do say consumers should demand technologies that would render stolen gadgets useless.”

It’s an interesting concept although there aren’t any statistics (at least not in the article) that actually correlate the rise in crime with the the amount of stolen personal electronic devices.

Take a gander at the article if you are interested.