I'm with Sigokat on this. On the Lost website that I occasionally frequent, the question of the magic box is always coming up and I just don't get why people don't realise it's just a metaphor. It's like when Ben says (if memory serves, this is from the same episode as the 'magic box') that electricity to the island is supplied by a giant hamster running on a giant wheel - people don't fixate on the fact that there might be a massive rodent under their feet, so why get hung up on the magic box? In my opinion, it - and the hamster line, of course - was a throwaway comment to avoid telling Locke anything, in a way that Ben excells at.
(Mind you, if there turns out to be a magic box and a giant hamster in the finale, then feel free to point at and mock me!)
"I handed in the new RJ novel with the
working title, BY THE SWORD. David says the sales force loved the title at the
pre Turkey-Day sales meeting, so that's what it will be. That means Paul Ramplin
gets a credit line in the acknowledgments."