So is everybody rejoicing over the news that the iBook is finally shipping? As most of you know, Steve Jobs just announced that the first consumer portables off Apple's assembly lines (or, perhaps more accurately, off the lines of the third-party firm actually building the things) have started on their merry way to retailers all over the country, as well as to customers who placed pre-orders at the Apple Store. According to a MacWEEK article, representatives from just about every Apple-selling chain expect to have iBooks in stock and ready to move starting on or about the 26th of this month.

But if you're expecting to wander blithely into your local CompUSA on September 26th and be able to slap down some plastic, sign by the "X," and walk out with your very own Blueberry or Tangerine portable fashion statement, think again. Remember those 160,000 pre-orders? If you think Apple's going to ship more than 160,000 iBooks in the first delivery, you may have been left on the Tilt-A-Whirl a bit too long when you were a baby. If you've waited this long without placing an order, you may just have to come to terms with the fact that, come iBook Day, you're probably not going to be the first one on your block to show off your kicky new handle-sporting laptop down at the local Dunkin' Donuts. For instance, a rep at the Apple Store says that the customers who placed the very first pre-orders will be getting their iBooks soon, but anyone ordering one now won't take delivery until "late October." (Which means, incidentally, that the "45 days" lead time quoted at the Apple Store is apparently accurate, though we think that may just be a coincidence.) It's first come, first serve. You snooze, you lose. And any other clichés you can think of to express the sentiment "if you wanted one of the first systems, you should have pre-ordered back in July."

Now, that's not to say that, come the end of the month, you definitely won't be able to buy an iBook at retail for ready money. Remember the iMac launch last year? The AtAT staff was lucky enough to find an authorized Apple dealer just two hours away across state lines who actually had more iMacs delivered than pre-orders taken, so we (and some friends and family) did in fact get an iMac on August 15th, 1998 without having pre-ordered. Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky this time around. Perhaps Apple has learned something from their last wildly successful consumer product launch and has upped the ante on number of units to ship. Seeing as we didn't pre-order an iBook, either, we're kind of hoping for a healthy first shipment.