Imagine that you want a Pop-Tart. I mean really want a Pop-Tart. Specifically, a Pop-Tart of the new "Frosted Triple-Chocolate Fudge Surprise" variety that you've seen in TV commercials for the better part of a month now, but which still hasn't hit the stores. (Don't you hate commercials for unreleased products? What a tease...) So then you're doing your weekly grocery shopping and you half-heartedly trudge your way down the cereal aisle, fully expecting to be disappointed again, when you spot it-- the box you've seen on TV and in your dreams so many times, sitting regally on the shelf, inviting, beckoning. And your heart skips a beat and dances a little jig because your Pop-Tart craving is nearly at an end. Yes, Frosted Triple-Chocolate Fudge Surprise Pop-Tarts are now available, come one, come all.

You abandon the rest of your groceries, grab the magical box, rush for the express lane checkout line, push past everyone waiting, throw ten dollars at the harried cashier while shouting "Keep the change!" and race to your car, your heart in your throat all the while. Once safely ensconced in the cocoon of your vehicle, you open the box, prepared to end a month-long craving, wishing you had a dash-mounted toaster. But there are no Pop-Tarts inside. Instead, there are six audio cassettes. Confused, you jam the first tape into your car's cassette player and listen. A soothing female voice thanks you for your patronage and apologizes that the new Frosted Triple-Chocolate Fudge Surprise Pop-Tarts are not yet ready for market. She then explains at length (over the course of five more tapes) the complex series of events that caused the delay. And the only other thing in the box is a voucher for you to send to the Kellogg's corporation, who will then send you your Pop-Tarts via U.S. Post once the FDA has cleared them, pending approval of the product's higher-than-normal caffeine content.

Sound bizarre? Well, replace "Pop-Tarts" with "Norton Utilities 4.0" and you've pretty much got the situation in France right now, according to MacFixit. Shrink-wrapped boxes of the latest version of that venerable disk repair utility were sold at several booths at Apple Expo 98 last week, but inside there was no CD-ROM. Instead there was a letter of apology, claiming there were last-minute bugs found with the French version of NUM 4.0, so Symantec decided "not to include the CD-ROM in the boxes." Bizarre, no? We find it hard to believe that a move like that isn't plainly illegal. Shame on Symantec for pulling a cheap moneygrubbing move, instead of delaying the shipment until the product was actually ready for release; then again, we've held a grudge ever since they bought out the excellent MacTools Pro and promptly discontinued it. Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to have a Pop-Tart. (And no, Kellogg's has done nothing wrong to the best of our knowledge, nor are they working on a Frosted Triple-Chocolate Fudge Surprise Pop-Tart, though the world might be a better place if they were.)