It's scoop time! Everyone on earth is waiting for Pismo, the next PowerBook. Plenty of folks are expecting an iBook revision, too, expecting a Graphite model with DVD. And more than a few are still holding out hope that faster and/or multiprocessor Power Mac G4 systems are just around the corner. The details of all of those product updates may or may not be true, but we can tell you this much: the next iMac is coming much sooner than you'd think. And contrary to popular rumor, the next model does not boast a seventeen-inch screen.

Don't get us wrong-- the 17" iMac is definitely in development, and will surface soon enough. But before then, the next big thing in iMacs is small. While developing the 17" iMac, the folks at Apple were struck by how much larger and heavier the iMac's rounded Graphite case had to become. Since a small footprint was such an integral part of the original spirit of the iMac, Apple's decided to move in the other direction. Therefore, the next iMac will have a paradigm-breaking nine-inch screen. Also, to make better use of desk space, this new unit (code-named "OUTATIME") has a square base, and ditches the iMac's traditional rounded curves for space-efficient right angles. Jobs deemed the entirely clear plastics a bit too drab, and reinstated the older rainbow Apple logo as a splash of color-- the rainbow against a field of grey, like in the original "Think Different" ads. Oh, and the CD/DVD-ROM drive has been replaced with a single 3.5" floppy drive, since it's a writeable device and therefore can be used for quick and easy local file backups-- something that no previous iMac could do right out of the box. Want to see a picture? Check it now, because it may not be up for long, given the tenacity of Apple's lawyers.

All right, all right-- so it's really just a clear Mac SE. So sue us. But when we saw its transparent, all-in-one design hearkening all the way back from 1987, we couldn't help but see the iMac's roots. Apparently fewer than ten of these clear-plastic "test" SEs were ever made, and we imagine they number among the most valuable and sought-after Apple collectors' items. Most interesting of all, though, is how modern and futuristic the SE still looks after all these years. There's still something to be said for the "toaster" Macs; their design really is timeless. Just give 'em a see-through shell, and they look like Internet appliances that won't surface until next year at the earliest. The rest of the industry's still playing design catch-up.