Okay, sure, there's always a period of sadness after a Macworld Expo; all the anticipation and excitement has built to a climax, Steve has said his piece, the new gear graces the pages of the Apple Store and begs to be purchased-- and for Apple watchers, it's back to the humdrum world of business as usual. There's no more heated discussion about what Mercury will turn out to be, because Mercury is right there-- it's the PowerBook G4. 600 MHz, or all the way up to 733? Don't bother debating; it's 733 MHz, plain as day on the Power Mac G4 page. True, the glistening novelty of the new products themselves is enough to keep us all entertained for a while, but soon that thrill wears off and we find ourselves impatiently awaiting the next big event.

There's one huge bonus to the "post-Expo doldrums," however. You know how as a particular Stevenote draws ever closer, the rumors surrounding Apple's secret plans get more and more specific? Early on, the sky's the limit when it comes to Expo speculation, but as the days pass, more and more leaked "fact" gets added to the mix. So whereas early pie-in-the-sky rumors about the PowerBook G4 may have indicated that it boasted two processors, built-in handwriting recognition, and a case made out of pleather and Kryptonite, by the time Steve's rehearsing the final draft of his keynote, those rumors have congealed into something far less whimsical (and far closer to the real thing). When you think about it, it's almost kind of sad.

That's why the post-Expo timeframe is actually a liberating experience, from a rumorological point of view. We're done wondering what Apple's going to include on the spec sheet for Mercury and the new Power Macs; now we can move on to far goofier subjects. Take Mac OS Rumors, for instance; as faithful viewer David Triska notes, the granddaddy of the Apple rumors world has pulled out all the stops in its latest description of the mysterious "CubeBook" that many expect to occupy the sixth slot in Apple's product grid. Most of us thought that the CubeBook would turn out to be a super-stylish Mac subnotebook, but now that the PowerBook G4 has basically assumed that role for itself, MOSR has whipped up a new guise for the CubeBook: that of "information appliance."

See, MOSR has embraced the freedom afforded it by the passing of yet another Expo and has plunged into the waters of rampant, unbridled speculation with both feet (and what those guys are doing speculating with their feet, we'll never know). Picture this: a CubeBook that's actually a sub-$600, water-resistant, shockproof, stripped-down Mac tablet, complete with just enough guts to run a Mac OS X interface, connect to the 'net via a 56K modem/Ethernet/AirPort, and run a web browser and basic applications. Stir in a little iTools integration (KidSafe, anyone?), and voilà: a mini-Mac that's kid-friendly and mother-approved.

Please note that even MOSR is careful to label this concoction as a "pipe dream," but that won't stop us from revelling in this post-Expo return to limitless possibilities. Imagine what this low-cost mini-Mac might do for Apple's shrinking slice of the education pie; finally, a computer that actually addresses the special needs of the K-3 segment of that all-important K-12 market. Enjoy it while it lasts, people, because as soon as, say, the July Expo starts drawing near, you can bet that the CubeBook rumors are going to get a lot less entertaining when viewed strictly on their own merits.

We've been watching this whole "new iMac" plot thread and we've decided that it lacks drama. Pretty much everyone already knows what's going to happen, right? After all, Steve admits to the world that Apple dropped the ball on CD-RW drives, the company introduces new Power Macs with CD-RW drives built in, it releases the exceptionally consumer-friendly iTunes product, and then the existing iMacs all start showing up in reseller inventory systems as "end of life." Suspenseful? Hardly. This is more predictable than your average episode of Gilligan's Island. "Ooooh, do you think they're going to make it off the island this time??"

So, for those of you who are bored silly by the sheer predictability of the whole "iMacs with CD-RWs probably within a month" deal, we've decided to throw a little gravel in the works, just to keep things zesty. Faithful viewer Hes Nikke just so happens to work at CompUSA (or so he claims!), and he reports that while the iMacs were listed as D01 ("discontinued by manufacturer"), they've suddenly come back from the dead. As of two days ago, apparently those iMacs are now back to being A01 ("normal stock"). 'Taint funny, McGee!

Why the change? According to Hes's manager, one of the higher-ups goofed and the iMacs should never have been D01'd in the first place; the error was caught, and things are now back to the way they're supposed to be. Now isn't that interesting? Of course, there are plenty of other scenarios that could explain the shift equally well. Perhaps Apple's having trouble getting its hands on enough slot-loading CD-RW drives to make a quick switchover. Maybe some other planned iMac feature upgrade (G4 processors, anyone?) is causing a delay. Or maybe Hes is yanking our collective chain in the first place, and the iMacs are still D01. Who knows? But if he is telling the truth, that still doesn't explain why all those other resellers also had the iMacs listed as "end of life." Still, it makes you think, doesn't it?

If there were a "Coolest Apple Product That No One's Buying" award, few would disagree that the Power Mac G4 Cube would be a shoo-in for the prize. That's an exaggeration, of course, and Apple claims that following its price reduction initiatives, the Cube is actually selling reasonably well these days-- though it's not going to break any records. That's a shame, too, since the reviews of the Cube were universally gushing in their praise for the product's sleek lines, technological innovation, and attention to detail. (They also usually ended with something along the lines of "too bad about the price.")

Anyway, the fact of the matter is, the damage has mostly been done; since it wasn't a breakout sales smash upon its debut, the Cube may well be doomed to a life of far less glamorous appearances than its award-winning design deserves. Take, for example, what faithful viewer James Ferguson spotted when cruising the NabiscoWorld web site: the once-mighty Cube has been reduced to shilling for the makers of Teddy Grahams and Ritz Bits. Yes, sad though it may be, in Nabisco's aptly-named "Power and Speed" sweepstakes, the grand prize is a pair of Cubes and a 17-inch Studio Display-- or, um, a Sea-Doo personal watercraft.

Oh, the indignity! It's bad enough that the Cube has to share the stage with a Sea-Doo, but to be reduced to a "win one, get one free" role? What's with the apparent "two Cubes, one display" arrangement? It's shameful, that's what it is. Still, we guess we shouldn't have been too surprised... after all, Nabisco has a history of adopting former Apple technology for its own more pedestrian uses. You know what we're talking about, right? That's right; Nabisco still makes and sells Apple Newtons.