October 14th is a Tuesday, traditionally the day that the Apple Store goes off-line for “maintenance”, while the world looks on with baited breath in anticipation of what will have changed when it comes back up… This year, it’s also the date everyone is expecting a long overdue refresh for the venerable Macbook Pro, which (aside from a few speed bumps) hasn’t really changed much since it was introduced in January 2006, excepting the move to Core 2 Duo processors in November 2006…

My overworked rev.a macbook is about to get it’s third keyboard and topcase, with only the screen and webcam remaining from the original machine I brought home from the store. I can’t complain, it has worked between 6 and 12 hours every single day for the entire 2 years I’ve owned it. But, it’s time to upgrade, and I will be in the queue for whatever new “game changing machine” Apple gives us in 2 weeks time.

Although I’m not holding my breath, what I’d really like to see on October 14th is a truly portable machine. All my Christmases will have come at once if it comes in the much rumored 9” tablet form-factor with multi-touch. With a heavy dose of realism, I suppose I might have to make do with a next generation 12” Powerbook, hopefully with at least 5 hours battery life with wifi on. With Blu-ray. And 3G. And GPS. And a touch screen. Err… might as well throw out the keyboard too :-)

Okay, you’ve got me. Apple have been taunting me with rumors of a tablet for years. I’ll try not to cry if they don’t deliver again this year.