I really hate to be writing this. Really. It seems almost anti-Apple of me. But I just gotta say it: The iBook color choices stink. There. It's out. I said it once, and if I had to, I'd say it again.

Don't get me wrong; I'm 90% thrilled about the iBook. It's fast, it's cheap, it has an awesome display, built-in ethernet & modem, etc. But c'mon...of all the iMac colors to transfer to the iBook, why Tangerine? Blueberry doesn't concern me so much, but bright orange just isn't a color I want to see in a computer. I had sincerely hoped that the rumors of a smokey-gray iBook would turn out to be true. Translucent, to relate to the iMac. Gray, to relate to the PowerBook. That would've been neat.

Anyway, now that my one gripe is out of the way, let me tell you why the iBook is gonna rock. We all already know the statistics. If you don't, check...well, any Macintosh-related website in existence. What I'm gonna talk about is the coolness factor of what you can do with it.

Okay, consider this. Yesterday, Eskape Labs announced a USB TV receiver, MyTV (Check out their site at http://www.eskapelabs.com/ProductsMyTV.htm). The ramifications of this are that any college kid who's already strapped for room can take their iBook, MyTV, and a VCR and have a complete entertainment system. Even cooler is the prospect of having a 12" portable TV for the road. Granted, Bronze PowerBook owners already have this functionality, with their built-in USB. But it cost you at least $2499.

You could apply the "whoa, that's neat" effect to just about any USB device. The NEC portable scanner. The USB QuickCam for hosting a "Watch-Me-Drive-Down-The-Road" Web-Cam (with a cellular modem, of course). The list goes on and on. And all this is possible for under $2000!

It's cool to be a Mac user these days, ain't it?