How about a quick breather from the smell of gunsmoke and the piercing screams of those who don't innovate fast enough to survive in this fast-paced tech world? Well, a semi-breather, at least-- we thought we'd check in with Apple's Cupertino weapons lab, where the engines of their enemies' destruction are forged. If we had to pick a single technology Apple's got that stands to win converts who otherwise would never have considered the Mac platform, we'd have to choose Airport. Wireless networking at full Ethernet speeds? Sign us up! Sure, the technology exists for other platforms, but no one integrates it as elegantly as Apple; pop in a $99 internal card, and you're wireless. No bulky units jutting out of the side of the laptop or stuck to the top of the minitower, because the antennae are built into the machines themselves, running through the translucent plastic. Just plug and go.

At least, in theory. Airport was long a "not yet available" option at the Apple Store, due to pending FCC clearance of the implementation. And while the iBook alone is a pretty compelling purchase, it's Airport that's really going to fuel record-breaking sales. So we're happy to see lots of people talking about how the Airport card is now an available option on Apple Store iBook orders-- try it and see. Sadly, the Airport Base Station is still not available, and if it doesn't get clearance by the time the iBook ships in (hopefully) a couple of weeks, there may be some Airport-enabled iBook owners twiddling their antennae as they wait to experience the Joy of Wireless-- unless they know other Airport-ready iBook users so they can build a peer-to-peer network and whomp the heck out of each other in Quake II.

By the way, it might just be the Apple Store lagging behind, but if you try to configure a G4 with an Airport card, it's still labeled as "not yet available." Personally, we've come to the conclusion that if Apple Store information appears to be out of date, it probably is. After all, the iBook lead time still says "45 days," and the Airport option says "70 days." Apparently the delivery lead times only get updated on special occasions, like the appearance of a comet or a solar eclipse.