Hallelujah, the post-Expo rumors drought finally appears to be over! We never thought we'd see the day, but we're looking at a hat trick, here: the Big Three of the online Mac rumor mill all posted updates on Monday. AppleInsider (who has been suspiciously silent ever since its Expo Eve prediction of iMacs sporting DVD/CD-RW combo drives fell flat) has returned from the dead, bearing details about an upcoming version of Macromedia Director and its 3D component that is apparently named after a cheesy Disney movie. The Naked Mole Rat has evidently rediscovered the joys of speed over barbiturates, because he's just posted his fourth update in sixteen days-- a pace clearly far in excess of his usual tendencies. And Mac OS Rumors continues its recent spate of alarmingly frequent dirt-dishing with a Monday report on Mac OS X-native applications, a boatload of insanely great stuff slated for this summer's Macworld Expo, and an interesting twist on the Apple retail store scenario.

Given this embarrassment of riches, we're homing right in on the dirt that grabbed our attention and yanked it the hardest-- namely, Apple's rumored plans to turn its brick-and-mortar Apple stores into Internet cafés, only without the hourly charges, the typical crappy Wintel terminals, or, um, the café. Word has it that Apple's latest plan is to outfit each boutique with a high-speed 'net connection and a slew of Macs expressly for customer use. If this indeed comes to pass, someday you'll be able to wander into your local Apple store, plunk yourself down in front of a Mac, fire up a web browser, and surf to your heart's content. And you won't just be limited to 'net access; "gaming, browsing the Internet, even using the computers for work are all acceptable." All that's missing is the latté.

But don't order yet, because there's more; word has it that customers will be able to sign up for an Apple boutique user account that will allow them to log in at any Mac in any Apple store anywhere and get immediate access to their own "applications, files, and system settings seamlessly from a server at Apple." And what do you want to bet that account will really just be an iTools account, whose architecture is being extended via Mac OS X and Apple's grand scheme for retail domination?

We admit, we're a little skeptical that Apple would offer such a nifty service for free, but in a way, it really does fit in with other recent developments in Apple's Internet strategy. Who else gives its customers free IMAP-based email accounts, free storage on an Internet virtual disk, and free web-page serving-- all without ads? Why not an "iRetail" component of iTools that lets customers borrow a Mac for an hour (with integrated iDisk access and stored Preferences) in any Apple retail location? It's a great service for existing customers (just like iTools is already), but it's also a huge draw for new customers. If Random Consumer Guy can walk in off the street, sign up for an iTools account, and log in for free 'net access and a round of Quake 3 Arena, the staff is sure to inform him that any saved games or downloaded files stored on his iDisk will be instantly available from any Mac he might eventually purchase. Now that's incentive to buy. (And if they throw in a free double mochaccino, sales can only get better.)