So tomorrow is iMac Day-- but where are the iMacs? That's the question on the minds of several Apple resellers, who got all gussied up and ready to party, only to find that the guest of honor never showed up. Reports from the field indicate that several retailers didn't receive the iMacs they were told to expect, and still others received far fewer units than they should have. MacInTouch confirms this, stating that small resellers won't receive any iMacs at all until next week. And as for larger resellers, one CompUSA representative reports that his store-- a large one in a major metropolitan area-- only received 23 iMacs for their opening day supply. Sounds pretty low for a major product launch.

We at AtAT got a slightly different story when our small dealer called tonight, saying we should phone them tomorrow morning before driving the two hours to pick up our pre-ordered system. "Why?" we asked, trying to ignore that sudden sinking feeling in our stomachs. "We've hit a little snag," said he. It seems that their shipment of iMacs never showed up at all. According to them, when tracking the shipment, they found that it was last seen in Chicago, but nobody knew where it went after its brief stint in the Windy City. Hmmm, could it be a far-reaching and diabolical conspiracy to prevent AtAT from receiving its office iMac? Or worse still, what if Apple is in cahoots with the shipping company to cover up the fact that the iMacs were never shipped out at all? Naaahhh...

If the reports we're getting aren't just isolated incidents and are instead symptomatic of a huge supply problem, then Apple may indeed have shot itself in the foot on this one. There isn't much point in spending millions of dollars to hype the biggest product introduction in the company's history, and then not introduce the product. Does the phrase "PR Disaster of Biblical Proportions" mean anything to anyone? Again, we're keeping our fingers crossed that these are just isolated cases, but we suggest you all prepare for some sparks to fly just in case. And here's hoping that Apple's current production estimates-- 8000 iMacs a day, every day-- are close to the mark.

UPDATE: Things are looking up! The iMacs showed up at our New Hampshire dealer's doorstep at 3 AM this morning, so we're off to go pick up ours this afternoon. And reports from the front (read: various CompUSA's) have been uniformly negative on the availability issue, but overwhelmingly positive when it comes to customer reaction to the demo models. This just might be big, people. More when we receive our iMac and get it set up...

Speaking of PR, if the iMac introduction is a big flop, Apple won't have Niehaus Ryan Wong to perform damage control anymore. NRW, which has been Apple's outside public relations firm for the last year, apparently decided back in May that they didn't want to renew Apple's contract. In fact, according to a MacWEEK article, tomorrow is the last day for which NRW will be representing Apple. Heck of a last day, right? Considering that the iMac's introduction may well color Apple's whole future, and all...

Still, we can't say we blame NRW for letting the contract lapse. Apple must be a frustratingly difficult client, given all the misconceptions and preconceived notions in the press and the mercurial nature of Apple's interim CEO. We don't know exactly how instrumental NRW was in turning around the attitude of the press, but assuming they were involved at all, they did a bang-up job. Evidently they now feel it's time to move on to other challenges.

And so we bid a fond farewell to NRW, who set out to restore some of the luster to Apple's tarnished brand image, and seemingly succeeded to a healthy degree. Now that NRW considers their job done, Apple will rely on another PR firm, Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, to handle its external affairs. Let's hope that Edelman and company are practiced spin doctors who don't mind running damage control when, say, a CEO gets up and walks out on a live televised CNBC interview. Purely hypothetical situation, of course. And if the iMac introduction is really being marred by massively constrained supply, then Edelman et al are about to get a trial by fire.

And speaking of CNBC interviews (how about these great segues today, folks? Let's hear it for the segue crew!), Steve Jobs popped in to talk about the iMac on CNBC's Market Watch program this afternoon, and apparently things went considerably better this time around. MacCentral has a nice summary of the main points.

First, the hors d'oeuvres: Prior to Jobs' appearance, CNBC talked to a CompUSA sales representative who expects "a big crowd" at tomorrow's iMac introduction, and then to Lou Mazzuchelli, everyone's favorite industry analyst, who gets quoted in just about any story about Apple's latest moves. Lou was apparently pretty cool about pointing out how unfair it is to compare the iMac to cheaper PC's which are typically less than half the speed of Apple's new offering.

Then Steve appeared live via satellite and offered yet another nice encapsulation of the iMac's stylish design: "It's something you don't have to hide when the guests come over." Amen to that. He also played up the iMacs other big selling points: speed (the iMac is faster than PC's costing more than twice as much) and simplicity (anyone can get an iMac out of the box and onto the Internet in about ten minutes). After pointing out that Mac software developers are coming back to the platform "in droves" and skirting the touchy issue of potential iMac availability problems, Steve tactfully ducked the obligatory question about how long he'd remain Apple's interim CEO and called it a day. And they all lived happily ever after, with nary an unscheduled walkoff in sight. Sleep well, kiddies, and dream of iMacs stretching as far as the eye can see...