Say, did all the dads out there have a happy Father's Day yesterday? Apparently the odds of a "yes" answer are pretty darn good this year, considering that, according to CNN/Money, for the first time ever people are spending "more on Father's Day presents than they did last month on Mother's Day"-- and that among the list of "in-demand gizmos" that offspring were snapping up for Pops was the ever-lovin' iPod. (Sadly, to the best of our knowledge, there is no trade-in program whereby honorees of years past may exchange all those the light-up hula girl ties and road flare kits for 7500 songs in one's pocket.)

But forget about the whole Father's Day thing for a second, because the CNN/Money story hits upon something far more dramatic; it claims that "the Apple iPod has also been selling fast at Best Buy stores," and actually quotes a company spokesperson as saying that "the new version is slimmer, sleeker and definitely very popular for Dad." Can it really be true? Has Best Buy finally found something made by Apple that it can actually-- and we can't believe we're saying this, here-- sell?

Longtime viewers are all too aware of Apple's on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, sort-of-on-again, definitely-way-the-hell-off-again relationship with Best Buy, the only electronics retail chain we've ever found to be even danker and more psychologically scarring than CompUSA. (We're talking old-school CompUSA, before Apple brought in its own people to make the places a little less icky; some locations apparently now border on pleasant.) Apple first told Best Buy to scram way back in '98, when it became apparent that the reason no one was buying Performas at Best Buy (well, aside from the fact that they were Performas) was that the chain's definition of a "display Mac" was "a Mac that's lost its keyboard, its mouse, its System Folder, and its will to live." The fact that display Macs at Best Buy were also often on fire and/or filled with used crankcase oil and the inner organs of beasts and fowls didn't help, either.

Well, Best Buy came crawling back later that year when the iMacs were a big smash hit, but before long it was clear that Best Buy couldn't sell a life preserver to a drowning man if it had an Apple logo on it. Best Buy and Apple called it quits yet again when the chain balked at the prospect of stocking five different flavors. After that there were a few rumors and a whole lot of nothing-- until Best Buy signed back on to sell the wildly popular iPod last September. Apparently that's going well enough that Think Secret is claiming that Apple and Best Buy are "in contract talks" to sign the retail chain back on yet again to sell Macs instead of just iPods, this time with honest-to-goshness Apple representatives on the premises to ensure that the display eMacs aren't filled with wet garbage and hurled off the roof.

The deal isn't final yet, but we have to say, success in moving iPods off the shelves notwithstanding, you'll understand if we're a little skeptical about Apple turning back to Best Buy for Mac sales again. If you've ever known a couple who breaks up and makes up as often as Best Buy and Apple, you probably either thought that 1) these two people really are destined to be together, against all odds; or 2) these two need to be tied to a tree and beaten with a tire iron until they come to their senses. When it comes to Apple and Best Buy, we're leaning towards 2) right now. Anybody got some rope?