Holy yikes, they're everywhere! Shortly after we told you about the Weird Mac Thing on eBay, the faithful viewer known only as Eg'z pointed out a second "Apple Interactive TV Unit" up for bid at everyone's favorite online auction house. This entry is billed as an "Extremely Rare Apple Computer" and bears the slogan, "Own a Piece of Apple History!!!" There are plenty of photos of all sides of the unit, plus some snapshots of the board and chips inside. Apple's sordid prototype history is bubbling up through the cracks, proving that you really can find anything on eBay. (Personally, we're holding out for an original playlist from one of the only two 1998 Gilman St. performances of Steve Jobs' and Larry Ellison's secret punk band, the Thin Clients-- now there's a real piece of Apple history.)

More details have since come to light about these mysterious set-top boxes; the most complete factual run-down comes to you courtesy of the PowerBook Zone, who displayed remarkable tenacity in their research efforts. (Giles and Willow would be proud.) Apparently these things are prototype interactive TV devices that were manufactured for testing in England, as part of a collaboration with British Telecom in the 1994/1995 time frame. They're based on the old LC475 motherboard and were intended to give customers a way to access "video on demand" services. The product obviously never actually entered the production stage, probably because whatever video service it was built to run never came out, or because the video company went with a different set-top box. Nevertheless, dozens of them were used in the testing phase, so it seems likely that there are plenty more of these things floating around out there somewhere.

When last we checked, the original prototype that surfaced on eBay was up to a high bid of $941, with just three days left to go; the second instance is already up to $320, with five bidding days remaining. Sounds like an awful lot to pay for a unit that does almost nothing-- neither box up for bid seems to include a remote control or keyboard (perhaps a standard ADB keyboard would work?), there's absolutely zero documentation, and whatever video-on-demand service and infrastructure it was designed to work with doesn't exist. So basically, people are bidding hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a diskless LC475 that does nothing but put the word "Apple" on your TV's screen. (Hey, but at least it's in that familiar Apple Garamond font!) Hmmm, we think we'll pass-- have to save up our money in case that playlist ever surfaces.

Ah, yes-- PowerPC death rumors. It seems like there's always some "PowerPC is going away" angst mixed into the Apple rumor gene pool, and that makes sense; the PowerPC is crucial to Apple's survival and success, yet its continued development is almost entirely out of Apple's control. So it's only natural for worries about the PowerPC's future to surface in the form of constant low-grade rumors about how IBM and Motorola are planning on cancelling the chip's development entirely. This time, The Register is claiming that their source (not "sources," mind you, but "source") says that the only reason the AIM consortium hasn't pulled the plug on PowerPC already is "contractual obligations." For that reason, Apple's rumored to be buddying up to-- wait for it-- Intel.

Now, we've all heard rumors about Apple moving to Intel chips in the past. Heck, not so long ago we were even hearing that Apple would soon be producing Windows-based Intel systems just to stay alive. That said, this current rumor is based on the fact that Mac OS X Server, and Mac OS X after it, is supposedly easily portable to other chipsets by virtue of being based on BSD Unix. If no one wants to make PowerPC's and the next Mac OS can be made to run on any iron, why not make the jump to Intel?

Why not, other than a total and utter loss of credibility, that is. The only reason we doubt that Apple's going to move the Mac platform to Intel unless they absolutely have no other choice is that they'd probably suffer a huge PR hit. After all, what about all that stuff about the G3 being "up to twice as fast" as a Pentium II? Would Apple really be able to shrug it all off with a "that was then, this is now" kind of attitude? The Register claims that Apple's move to Intel would begin with Mac OS X Server running on the Merced (Intel's interminably-delayed next-generation chip) in 2001 and the standard Mac OS X migrating in 2002 or 2003. Even that sounds a little suspect; why would Mac OS X take an extra year or two to migrate, when by then X Server will probably just be X with extra applications and utilities? Something smells funny in Chipville.

iMac 333's are definitely starting to become available in the retail channel, as reported by multiple sources who have actually been able to buy them and take them home-- including Tangerine ones, which hopefully puts the whole "Banana and Cherry" issue to rest for the time being. As far as anyone can tell, there is absolutely nothing different about the new iMacs other than the use of a 333 MHz G3 instead of a 266 MHz one. Well, actually, there is one other little difference, which may help quell some of the loudest criticism to emanate from the iMac user base. (No, it doesn't have a floppy drive; are people really still complaining about that?) We're talking about the mouse.

Yes, the iMac mouse is small, but that's not the real problem for most people. The thing that gets people turned around in circles is the iMac mouse's symmetrical roundness; most mice are oblong so the user can keep it pointed forward, but the iMac's mouse is perfectly round and therefore has a tendency to drift rotationally, leading to all sorts of wacky shenanigans. iMac 333's still have round mice, but Apple's added a little dimple to the center of the button (as shown and detailed at NoBeige) to help people keep it pointed forward. Hey, it's cute, too. Interestingly, NoBeige readers also confirm that dimpled mice shipped with some of the very last iMac 266's that made it into the channel, so we suppose that we can't really classify this "innovation" as being a true "rev. D" development.

Other notable news from NoBeige: prices on rev. A and B iMacs are indeed falling through the floor now that they're few and far between and a whopping 100 MHz slower than the latest and greatest. People are reporting being able to pick up factory-sealed rev. B's for $599, which is technically known as "a song." If you're in the market for an iMac but you're, say, hurting from the big fat check you just sent off to the IRS, consider a Bondi Blue model-- if you can find one.