Sure, there were problems with the original Wall Street PowerBooks. For instance, while the 13" and 14" active-matrix screens on the higher-end systems were gorgeous, the passive-matrix 12" screen on the low-end model was less than perfect. In fact, it was pretty awful, to put it bluntly. That's one of the reasons Apple nixed those screens in the new release of the PowerBook G3 Series, and has now standardized on the big, bright, and beautiful 14" active display on all models. Great news, right?

Yup, great news-- unless you're on a budget that doesn't look smilingly on the fact that the new low-end PowerBook G3 is $2799, about $500 more expensive than the previous bare-bones model. Sure, you get a much better screen and a significantly faster computer (thanks to the addition of 512 KB of backside cache to the 233 MHz G3 at its core), but the simple reality is that not everyone who needs a PowerBook can justify spending $2799 to get one. The older model may have given them reason to swear at the screen on a fairly regular basis, but at least it was a cheaper option. But what's this? According to MacCentral, Apple's doing the right thing again-- it appears that a new PowerBook G3 is expected to hit the channel in a week and a half. This unannounced model includes the same G3/233/512 processor, but it's got a 12.1" active-matrix display with an 800x600 resolution. And it includes 24-bit color and an S-Video-out port just like its active-matrix big brothers. Toss in an internal 56kbps modem, and the final price tag is still only $2299.

That's a great price for a great machine. If you're in the market to buy one, better call your dealer quick-- MacCentral's sources claim that Apple's only going to build a few thousand of these puppies, and once they're gone, they're gone. That's a strange strategy, but hey, it's not like Apple hasn't done strange things in the past.

Speaking of faults with the original PowerBook G3 Series, probably the most severe one was the fact that actually getting one's hands on one of the higher-end models was a Herculean task. In particular, the configuration with the 292 MHz processor and the 14.1" screen was so scarce, there were people who placed orders for it the week it was released way back in May who still hadn't received it by the end of August. In fact, we're convinced that the people who were able to get one of those super-rare configs in a timely fashion had some kind of mob ties. While we may occasionally get nostalgic about "the way things were," we certainly didn't welcome the return of Apple's chronic availability problems.

We've heard several rumors why the high-end PowerBooks were so tough to deliver, the two most common being availability issues with the 14.1" screens, and the scarcity of 292 MHz processors. The "PowerBook G3 Series Mark II" was released in part to be a set of PowerBooks that people could actually buy, receive, and use, and since the new series standardizes on the 14.1" screen, apparently Apple's found a decent source now. As for processors, since Apple's already using the 300 MHz G3 in desktop models, they should have little trouble scraping enough of them together to slap into the new high-end PowerBooks.

And, according to O'Grady's PowerPage, that indeed seems to be the case; they've posted several comments from readers who report that their new PowerBook G3/300's are either en route or already in their hands. It seems we may finally be at the end of the "Great PowerBook Drought of 1998;" may its like never again rear its ugly head.

It may sound odd, but Apple's new consumer product is now being sold with consumables. In Merry Olde England, people in Cardiff and London can run down to the local supermarket to pick up a loaf of bread, a bottle of orange juice, a head of lettuce-- and an iMac. Such is the agreement that Apple U.K. has made with Tesco, a large supermarket chain, who is reportedly doing a bang-up job of selling iMacs to its shoppers. The MacNN iMac Special Report has an eyewitness report.

It sounds as though the arrangement is working out well; at the Cardiff store (which is open 24 hours a day), the reader reports seeing "at least 50 iMacs" stacked up and ready to sell, each with a sticker price of £999. An Apple employee was present and giving demos, seemingly similar to the Apple reps who have been frequenting CompUSA's on the weekends for iMac Demo Days. And the Apple rep had drawn quite a crowd; here's hoping that the iMac becomes a consumer smash in the U.K. as it has here in the U.S.

Sure, Tesco apparently isn't the typical sort of supermarket with which most of our U.S. viewers are familiar-- these particular stores seem to sell computers and electronic equipment, as well as groceries-- but we're still struck by the image of orange iMac boxes stacked at the end of the aisle next to the canned peas. We see store employees giving iMac demos next to the ones offering free samples of breakfast sausage and frozen pizza rolls. It's a surreal image, to be sure, but it makes us smile, so we're keeping it. ;-)