Okay, so technically, Apple did indeed ship the Power Mac G5 by the end of August, just as it said it would. But, uh, how many? We ask because there are far fewer reports of deliriously happy G5 owners out there than we might have expected one week after the first batch went out, and we're starting to suspect that Apple only sent out about six. Then again, since the dual 2.0 GHz models still haven't shipped and are anecdotally far more popular that the single-processor models, maybe only six were ordered in the first place... but we haven't exactly heard about resellers swimming in excess single-processor inventory, either. Just once we'd like to see a heavy demand meet a heavy supply, but it seems that never the twain shall meet, at least where Apple is concerned.

Of course, that all pales in comparison to what's going on with availability overseas. Europe seems to be doing all right, with recent reports that the UK was to have gotten at least a few demo units by the end of last week, and France should have received a shipment to start filling preorders by last Friday. Japan is another story altogether, though; according to the Kyodo News, Apple has flat-out "postponed" G5 shipments in the Land of the Rising Sun for another month because production of all three G5 models is "behind schedule." Ooooo, not a good thing in the country slated for the first overseas Apple retail store. Then again, the same report claims that the top-of-the-line G5 has "a 2.0 gigahertz microprocessor"-- which is technically true, we suppose, but it seems odd not to mention the other one-- so who knows how accurate the rest of the story is?

And anyway, the Japanese G5 situation pales in comparison to the weirdness going on Down Under. The Courier-Mail reports that there is exactly one Power Mac G5 in the entire continent of Australia, and it's touring the country "like a rock star" so rabid fans can catch a glimpse, or a touch, or maybe even a sweatstained scarf that will one day wind up on eBay with a Certificate of Authenticity. Thankyuhverruhmuch. Here's hoping that Rock Star G5 retires before it hits its Vegas-and-pills years. Can you even get one of those things into a white fringe jumpsuit? And if you can, wouldn't it screw up its four-zone cooling system?

On the other hand, at least Australian resellers are still "expecting stock by the end of the month," as opposed to those poor Japanese, who will have to wait until September at the earliest. Thank goodness we're here in the U.S. where Apple claims to remain "right on track" to ship even the dual-processor rigs within a week. Of course, it may ship only three of them, but ship them it will!