There's less than a week to go before Mr. Steve's Wild Ride, and pretty much everyone's settled into a comfortable selection of keynote predictions. A new iMac tops most people's lists, given that some of the current models have been discontinued, the channel's been bled bone-dry, and the product was last updated sometime around the Taft administration. A new keyboard and mouse to replace the current "cute" devices rank pretty high on the ol' Probab-o-meter, too-- though speculation as to just what the new mouse will look like varies pretty wildly. The arrival and distribution of the Mac OS X beta CD-ROMs seems to be on a lot of people's minds, and we can just imagine Uncle Steve sailing them into the crowd like frisbees. (Hopefully the event won't be marred by the necessity of calling for paramedics; it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.) All of these possibilities have pretty much been discussed to death.

There are some less likely prospects, of course, such as multiprocessor G4 systems, an iBook DV, and the ever-elusive Apple PDA-- but those, too, have been debated and picked over so many times, they're virtually old news now without ever even having been announced. No, we're itching for something fresh to talk about... and so it's Mac OS Rumors to the rescue, with its report that Apple's planning to expand the iMac color line. Specifically, one reader over there asks whether he may soon be able to purchase a yellow "Pineapple" iMac, and the response, predictably, pretty much boils down to "maybe, maybe not." Still, MOSR claims that Apple's going to add some new flavors to the lineup, though what those flavors might be remains shrouded in mystery and secrecy and all that good stuff.

Now, we've heard things like this before, in case you've forgotten; in fact, last year there were miscellaneous reports from "trusted sources" that Apple was not only going to add new hues to the Amazing iMac Color Wheel, but that it would also be introducing a choice of textures, patterns, and different materials. (It all turned out to be hokum.) But even if the reports turn out to be true this time around, we have to say, we're not terribly confident that Apple would release a yellow iMac. First of all, if anyone's decor is disturbing enough that a bright yellow computer would fit in nicely, he or she probably has little enough taste not to want an iMac in the first place. Secondly, pineapples aren't yellow on the outside, and since we doubt that Apple would ship a brown-and-green spiky iMac, a different fruit would probably be chosen. That leaves "Lemon" and "Banana." The latter might work, but the former makes criticism by harsh reviewers far too easy; why give 'em a head start? Even "Banana" is asking for trouble: "Banana? With its lack of a floppy drive and its paltry 450 MHz processor, they should have called it a 'Lemon'!" You get the picture. And lastly, a translucent yellow design is likely to be a little bit too reminiscent of... er... How can we put this delicately? "Liquid excretory material." And no one wants that sitting on the desk.