TUAW Reader mailbag: What does the future hold?

Every now and then we receive an email filled with praises and compliments. I used to get excited about that, but now I realize that the praises and compliments are just to butter us up for the questions :)  Still, we wouldn't be rock stars if we didn't have fans, so we try to treat our fans well and answer their questions when possible. Except for that one I received the other day about whether I wear boxers or briefs? I think that one was meant for my testosterone-laden co-bloggers. Either that or you listened to the last not-a-podcast and determined that I am actually a man, despite my assertions to the contrary?

So as I was saying, we get questions. Often, we get the same or similar questions from several people. We're lazy, so I figure why not answer them all at the same time, publicly?

Here's an example of one that looks a lot like a few others we've received lately:

Q. Hi, i love your site and most of the others in the WIN network, but I've had a looming question for months now and I figured I'd ask the experts (you guys).  I'm in the market for a new ibook/powerbook (yes im aware of the intel switch).  And i was wondering do you think there will be any shot of a new version of either coming out in the coming couple of months much less by the end of the year?  Or will apple not put out any new laptops with the powerpc chips?  Would greatly appreciate any sort of reply.  Thanks for your time.

A. Glad to hear you enjoy the site. As much as we love being considered experts, I'm afraid even so-called experts don't have crystal balls or spies inside Apple corporate that feed us a constant stream of future plans. Perhaps you are confusing us with one of those (shhhhh...) rumor sites?

It's certainly possible that there will be something new in the portable Mac space (dual core perhaps?) before the year is over... Then again, it's just as likely there won't be.

I know that's not the answer you were hoping for – but it's the best I've got!

My advice: Buy the best you can afford WHEN you need it, if you need it, and not a moment sooner. If you don't have a pressing need, you might as well wait. On the other hand, if you need something right now – or 3 months from now... what difference does it make that something even better might be available a week/month/year later? It's useless to you now, and when you have work to do – now is what counts.

There will always be something newer, better, smaller, faster, lighter, prettier, sparklier, etc in the pipeline. If you always wait for the Next Big Thing, you'd never buy anything at all!

Anyone else care to speculate?