So, uh, you're planning on getting one of the first dual 2 GHz Power Mac G5s to roll off the production line, huh? Sucker. Everybody knows that the smart Mac users never buy a new Mac when a better one has already been announced, and mere minutes after next month's G5s were first unveiled, Steve Jobs proclaimed that the G5 would reach 3 GHz within twelve months. That means that your "top-of-the-line" Power Mac will be eclipsed by models 50% faster-- and probably the same price or cheaper-- in less than a year. Enjoy your ride on the obsolescence train!

"Okay," you say, "that's a pretty good point. I've been waiting for real speed for so long that I suppose another twelve months tops won't kill me, and I'll pick up a dual 3 GHz model when they come out." Oh, really? You're going to get the dual 3 GHz? Okay... loser. See, the really with-it Mac users never buy a new Mac when a better one has already been announced or even talked about. And since MacRumors has an alleged PowerPC roadmap provided by an "unconfirmed and anonymous source," the hep cats who base their real-world purchasing decisions on unfounded rumor aren't planning to shell out the cash for a new Mac at least until the PowerPC 980 "tops out around 4.5-5 GHz" sometime in 2005. Meanwhile, you'll be puttering along with your dinky little dual 3 GHz rig and choking on the dust of those who waited for a real machine.

We know what you're going to say: you'll just wait for the 5 GHz Power Mac. Well, that's just dandy, Gomer, except that the PowerPC 990 (allegedly debuting in 2005 at 6 GHz and getting "near 10 GHz" in 2006) is going to make your Mac look like a narcoleptic tree sloth on NyQuil. Molest us not with this pocket calculator stuff. Anybody who buys a new Power Mac before 2006 is just setting himself up for a world of hurt. Then again, if you get a 10 GHz Power Mac in 2006, you're still going to feel like a total dweeb when Macs based around the PowerPC 9900 start shipping in 2007 or 2008; sure, they'll start at only 9 or 10 GHz, but don't forget that each chip generation ekes out more performance per clock cycle.

Oh, what-- you're still a firm believer in the Megahertz Myth? (That's okay, you're in good company-- now that the company's got some clock cycles to play with, Apple seems to have yanked Jon Rubinstein's immortal thrill-a-minute presentation on Why Clock Speed Means Nothing™.) So you aren't going to care if the 9900 is faster than your outdated 990, just as long as they both run at 10 GHz? Well, good for you! Enjoy that feeling while it lasts-- until 2010 or 2011, when the 9900 hits "20-25 GHz."

So there you have it, folks: 25 GHz in a mere eight years' time-- at least, according to an unconfirmed and anonymous source, and hey, that's good enough for us. (Why wouldn't it be?) Those of you smart buyers who still haven't replaced your LC IIs because something better is always "just around the corner" should start saving up now, because come 2011, you're finally going to want to take the plunge. Unless somebody says anything about what's coming out in 2012.