November 10th will be a day for the history books, if MacOS Rumors can be believed. Apple's scheduled press conference of that day had long been expected to cover the announcement of the Powermac G3 and Powerbook G3 systems, but rumors have surfaced all over the place that something very, very big will go down as well. Exactly what that Big Thing is has been the topic of much speculation. Is it the Apple/Oracle merger? Or something bigger still?

The details from Rumors are tantalizing. The conference will now be a national 180-minute event, and is said to reveal a "change in the way [Apple does] business," according to Steve Jobs himself. Closed-circuit TVs are being installed in Apple and Claris facilities and all employees of either company are required to watch the event-- even if they're not scheduled for work. That certainly signifies something momentous, but unfortunately, even Rumors' best sources aren't talking; the conference is wrapped in an informational black hole, from whose gravitational pull even low gossip can't escape.

We're counting down the minutes, and hope to broadcast live during the event. If ER can do a live episode, so can we. ;-)

The Apocalypse is Nigh! Or at least, you'd think so, after reading today's press release which states that CompUSA has committed to providing "significant retail space" to Apple computers, software, and accessories.

Really, this announcement shocks us far more than even the Microsoft agreement did. Whenever we've had to purchase any Mac hardware or software, the first store that came to mind has always been "Not CompUSA." The selection was uniformly terrible, the store displays were a joke, and the employees actively dissuaded customers from purchasing anything Macintosh. So you'll forgive us if it takes us a while to untie our brains after hearing CompUSA CEO Jim Halpin say that they "believe in the future of Apple." It's almost too good to be true.

Don't get too excited, though; the increased retail presence consists of separate Apple substores within each CompUSA superstore. (Separate but Equal?) Yes, it makes sense to segregate the merchandise for an easier shopping experience, but we can't help feeling that the Rosa Parks Apple ads are startlingly appropriate.

And speaking of those ads, while most people seem to like the "Think Different" ad campaign (it earned about an 80% approval rating in one of our online surveys), among the dissention, one of the biggest criticisms was that some of the people shown were too obscure for a mass market to recognize. Yes, everybody got Einstein and most people got John Lennon, but far fewer were able to identify Bertrand Russell or Maria Callas, ourselves included.

And looking beyond the pure recognition factor, just how different is it to associate a brand with "great" figures from history? To a certain extent, associating Apple with Edison is about as predictable and straightforward as it gets. What about showing images of some quirkier, more Mac-like personalities? Sure, Kermit and Jim Henson was a nice touch, but the Macintosh Conspiracy has gone even farther. Think Bean.

Could this be the start of a massive grass roots internet campaign to create unofficial "Think Different" ads for the masses? Hmmm... Our vote's in for Bugs Bunny.