If you're still obsessed with the notion of a next-generation iMac and you haven't gotten a wink of sleep since last week's Expo no-show, we have one little piece of advice for you: if you're looking to find out just when Apple plans to take the wraps off its next revolutionary consumer desktop Mac, don't go asking Miss Cleo for her mystical input on the matter. Imagine our shock and dismay when AtAT's resident fact-checker and Goddess of Minutiae Katie unearthed an Associated Press story about how everyone's favorite TV psychic is being sued by the state of Missouri for "allegedly violating the state's no-call law and consumer fraud." Miss Cleo's lawyer states that his client never charges consumers for calls placed by minors without parental consent, except when those minors "lie about their age." Um, hello-- who's supposed to be the psychic around here, again?

Anyway, rather than call a Jamaican woman who evidently can't even tell when a seven-year-old is claiming to be thirty-nine, you're better off piecing together next-generation iMac clues on your own. For example, faithful viewer Matt Smith recently noticed something interesting about Seybold's keynote web site: The first slot for Tuesday, September 25th currently lists only that there will be a "Special Keynote" delivered by an as-yet-announced speaker. Is that just the good-spin way of saying "we haven't been able to find anyone yet," or could it be that Uncle Steve is keeping a Seybold appearance under wraps to generate an aura of mystery? (He isn't listed in any of the other keynote slots, yet.) If the Mystery Guest does turn out to be Steve, suppose he'll have something up his sleeve other than speed-bumped CD-RW PowerBooks and Mac OS X 10.1? Like, say, a certain LCD-sporting iMac that's got everyone's knickers in a twist?

Actually, maybe not; Seybold is very much a professionally-oriented show, and the iMac is a decidedly consumer-targeted device. So how about an iMac unveiling at the Apple Expo instead? Faithful viewer Wayne W. Winder kindly pointed out a Go2Mac article that claims that "a source" (well, you know how that goes) talked to Apple Europe bigwig Pascal Cagny, and was told "unofficially" that "the new LCD iMac (Tessera)... will be announced in Paris during Apple Expo on 26-30 September 2001." (Incidentally, the same source claims that the new "Onyx" PowerBook will debut then as well.)

It's interesting to note that Seybold and the Apple Expo mostly overlap, so we're curious to see how Apple spreads its presence across both shows-- and which event will get what announcements. As for the iMac, if we had to choose between the two, we'd bet on an Apple Expo unveiling, given the product's target audience. If we asked Miss Cleo, she'd probably tell us that the new iMac won't be introduced until the 2002 Chicago Auto Show next February. Sigh... There are no heroes left in this world.