It seems to me that this would be pretty easy for Apple to block, once and for all. Before syncing, iTunes could simply check for the presence of a specific text file at the root level of the iPod, and then it could check that the contents of that file matched the contents iTunes expects to be in that file. The contents of this file could be several lines of written text that have been copyrighted by Apple so that it would not be legal for another company to distribute this file on their device. Apple could install this file on all iPods via a firmware update.

I disagree. If users of older iPods continue to use their current version of iTunes to sync, then fine, it will continue to work. However, if the user of an older iPod wants to use the latest iTunes version, a firmware upgrade to the legacy iPod can be offered and seamlessly pushed to the iPod by iTunes when the user tries to sync to that version of iTunes. Maybe in the early days of iPods, when a firmware upgrade required a manual download of an updater app and then also required some effort to use that updater app to update iPod firmware, I might have seen more validity to your concern with step 2.

Those who do understand the odds tend to either play games like blackjack which is the only game in the casino which has positive odds

Actually, to my knowledge, craps has the best player odds in the casino. I believe blackjack is second best in terms of player odds. BUT, even in craps, the odds are still negative against the player. There are, to my knowledge, no positive odds games in the casino. Why would the casino house a game which, by definition, would be a money loser over time?