Okay, so while we were AWOL yet again (and trust us, this wasn't the last time-- not by a long shot) we missed out on the whole "the iPod photo is dead, long live the iPod" lineup reorg that touched down earlier this week. If somehow you missed it, Apple's press release dishes the skinny: in a nutshell, the "iPod photo" as an entity unto itself is kaput, because all full-size iPods now include the color screens and photo-display capabilities that were once the earmarks of the iPod photo product line. And when we say "all" full-size iPods, we actually mean "both"; Apple has more or less deep-sixed the basic monochrome-display 20 GB iPod and moved the entry-level iPod photo down into its $299 price slot, downgrading its hard drive to 20 GB and nixing its FireWire cable in the process to justify the $50 price break. The 60 GB iPod photo stays where it was at $399, only now it's semantically just an "iPod." Are we clear?

Even though we missed broadcasting that day, we can't help bringing it up now three days late, since the same part of us that relishes the absurdity that we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway can't help but grin like a maniac when noting that, among all iPods with screens, now only the white iPods have color screens, while only the ones that come in multiple colors (i.e. the minis) have monochrome displays. (And yes, we're ignoring the fact that the newly-repriced $329 iPod U2 is still black and red and now also boasts a color screen. Whassamatter, you never heard of an anomaly before? Sheesh.) Oooo, it's practically enough irony to carry us clear through to Macworld Expo Boston, at which point the annual prospect of a Mac trade show sans Apple (or, indeed, even many Mac users) ought to hook us up with all we need until Christmas.

Now that we got that out of our system, to help compensate for boring you with a three-day-old plot twist, howsabout this for a deal? First, we'll pledge not to mention the equally-out-of-date release of iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting support (at least, we won't mention it any more than that), and second, we'll dish a little about alleged future iPod developments, so you can drool chronologically forward as well as back. According to Mac Rumors, UK gadget mag T3 claims that "reliable inside sources" report that the iPod shuffle will soon be available in 2 GB and 4 GB capacities. No word on whether these beefy new tunesticks will replace the $99 512 MB and (now cheaper) $129 1 GB versions, or simply join them in the lineup to give customers still more iTunes-happy options by which they can accrue additional debt.

We know what you're thinking: would Apple really ship a 4 GB shufflePod when there's a 4 GB miniPod sitting right there in the product lineup? Maybe, maybe not-- but the world may never know, since T3 also claims that Apple is ditching the 4 GB iPod mini and moving to 6 GB and 8 GB models whenever this grand product overhaul is slated to happen. As for when, T3 has no info, but a week ago AppleInsider was talking about a "special event that will take place on or before Thursday, July 7th," and surmised that second-gen shufflePods might be on the agenda. So Apple may reveal all within the week-- and heck, there's even a remote chance that, if it does, we'll even be around to tell you about it. Miracles have happened, you know.