You may have noticed that Apple's web site has changed dramatically just prior to the big announcement... and we mean dramatically. The new page shows a cookie, a shopping cart, and a screwdriver, and bears the slogan, "Think different. Really different," followed by an invitation to "come back Monday at noon (PST), and find out just how different [they] mean." So now Apple's trying to be coy?

The riddle isn't that hard to crack. The cookie probably refers to the "cookies" that web sites can leave in your system to "remember" things between pages (and even visits), which are commonly used in, let's say, oh, I don't know, online ordering systems. The shopping cart most likely refers to the nomenclature you see when you buy things from-- you guessed it, an online ordering system. And the screwdriver almost certainly implies a build-to-order paradigm, similar to what's used over at Dell's-- all together, now-- online ordering system. So I wonder what Apple's going to announce tomorrow?

Or, as the person with whom I share my life suggests, "maybe Apple's going to start selling cookies, which you buy in the supermarket where you use a shopping cart, and sometimes the shopping carts don't work so you need to fix them with a screwdriver. Yes, she's a damn weirdo, but I love her. ;-)

Speaking of online ordering systems, Apple's is even closer to up and running. Trying to access <http://store.apple.com> now redirects you to http://store.apple.com/1-800-795-1000/WebObjects/AppleStore. I suppose that clears up any doubt about whether or not Apple's going to have a WebObjects-based online store.

Even more interesting, a Macintouch reader went ahead and called that phone number. Much to his surprise, a direct Apple salesperson answered the line immediately, and wanted to know where he had gotten the number. Loose lips sink ships, hmmm? ThessaSOURCE also called the number, and learned that Apple Direct will offer most systems for sale, by phone or via the web, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. The operator hadn't heard anything about "build-to-order" systems, but Apple's got to maintain some confidentiality prior to the announcement.

We'd just like to take a second and say that if the online store is the earth-shattering, paradigm-breaking news we've all been holding our breath to hear, we'll be sorely disappointed. Not that it's not a great thing-- it is. It's just not quite the jaw-dropper we've been led to expect-- we were hoping for a wedding. Well, maybe it's all a red herring... Sneakier things have happened.

Don Crabb, at least, believes that much more will be announced tomorrow. In his latest "Steamed Crabb" column, he claims that by Monday's end, Apple will officially announce who the CEO and CoB will be, and what new partnerships have been forged to push Apple into the next epoch. We hope he's right, because an online store isn't enough to fill a whole AtAT episode...

And on a side note, you just have to respect a man who, in a single column, uses the phrases "by cracky," "about frigging time," and creates an entire paragraph using only the eternal phrase, "Pooping in their pants." We doff our collective hat to the Crabbman.