Um, how is a crate wrapped in black plastic news? That could be anything...

I obviously missed my kool-aid this morning!

Only new products are wrapped in black. When the announcement is made Apple Retail will be told to unwrap the crate.

Interesting... does apple normally pre-ship, hold, and shroud merely speed bumped machines? (honest question)

I know they've done this for completely new releases, but how about for just speedbumps?

well officially they do not exist at the moment and the Apple stores know nothing in advance, therefore I would assume all new products are covered - or shipped afterwards. Also, if they weren't covered, they would look the same as the other boxes - but would have a different serial number, so they could be put out by mistake. The only difference on the box between the new and old PowerBooks is the spec sticker on the side. I think Apple should ship the PowerMacs with Tiger, that'll please Apple customers!

-double post-

It's now 8:30am on the east coast....at what time does Apple usually anounce products?

Around 9AM

It's going to be announced wednesday according to the article.

Or not at all...

But how can they make us wait that long ?