I do that, but that's annoying. I also want to merge accounts, which in my minds means that there really is just one account with several names--emails to all

I do that, but that's annoying. I also want to merge accounts, which in my minds means that there really is just one account with several names--emails to all of them go to that one gmail (and it lets me choose which to send from), I can sign into all google services with any of those accounts, etc. It would be pretty complicated though. I've only used gmail on my secondary accounts, but some people have probably used docs, voice, etc on multiple accounts, in which case all of those need some kind of merging strategy.