Have you been waiting for Pismo for so long you're starting to think it's just an elaborate hoax? Granted, an unannounced product with no specified release date can't be late, but it can be "late." And right now Pismo, the long-awaited revision to the PowerBook G3, is almost as "late" as the original Wall Street model was. Long-time Apple-watchers know about Steve's mischievous nature and his penchant for "disinformation." Is it really so far-fetched that Pismo might just be a decoy to distract the rumormongers from what's really going on?

So we were halfway through constructing an intricate theory describing Pismo's phantom role as mere misdirection to draw attention away from the horrible experiments taking place in Apple's secret underground labs when, to our surprise, we received assurance that Pismo is real. Really real. As in, so real it's done. One of AtAT's most trusted sources "on the inside" relayed a harrowing tale of his stolen time spent with a purloined Pismo. Since the case is virtually indistinguishable from that of the current "bronze" PowerBook (!), this brave soul was actually able to grab the sleeping Pismo and leave his own PowerBook in its place, with no one the wiser. For a while, at least...

So, without further ado, here's what we were told. Pismo's got an iBook-style UFO-looking power adapter. It's got dual USB ports, dual FireWire ports, and video-out. The particular model in question was labeled as having a 500 MHz G3, a 14.1-inch screen, 128 MB of RAM, a 12 GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, and AirPort built right in. And what's this about the Pismo being used on a 400 Mbps FireWire network? Sounds like something worth waiting for. And hopefully we won't have to wait too long, since the intrepid soul who risked life, limb, and sanity to get us this info states that the unit he used was "obviously a manufactured, finished good" and not a prototype. Take all this as you will; believe it or don't. We admit, the bit about Pismo looking just like a current PowerBook has us wondering, too. All we know for sure is that it's a darn good story, at any rate. And we didn't even get into the ensuing chase scene with the ninja death squad-- this report was hastily filed via AirPort as our operative hid underneath cardboard boxes as security goons launched an extensive search. Here's hoping he makes it out alive; good spies are hard to find.