ShadowRam: April 5, 2004

Elite Computers and Software, MACadam Computers and MacTech Systems last week launched TellOnApple.org. They say the Web site is a way to gather and share "any information concerning unethical or illegal business practices of Apple."

Over the past year or so, Elite and MACadam have claimed that Apple has misrepresented its stores' profitability and gives the stores better pricing than it offers independent retailers.

Old timers who remember how Apple treated its devoted education channel aren't surprised by this turn of events. "Think different," indeed.

Liz Phair was on hand to rock the house at Spring VON 2004 last week,or at least try. IT professionals don't make the hippest audiences. The whole scene,which included Ms. Phair having to coax the crowd to cheer loudly enough to justify an encore,prompted one consultant to sigh, "Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a part of this industry. It's like an 'Average Joe' tryout." An undaunted Liz gave a spirited (and uncensored) performance nonetheless.

So, what do you give the woman who has everything? If she's romance novelist Melanie Craft, I guess it's Oracle stock. According to an SEC filing, Larry Ellison gifted Craft, his bride (his fourth actually, but who's counting?), with more than 900K shares of Oracle.

Gateway poohbah Ted Waitt cut off his famous ponytail in the wake of Gateway's eMachines acquisition last month. The significance is not entirely clear, but I, for one, have thought for some time that Ted's tail should go.

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly is one busy guy. At least dealing with the whole gay marriage brouhaha in his state offers a break from a relentless and sometimes lonely quest to bring Microsoft to heel.

Reilly will likely push the state's plan to move more aggressively into the open-source realm for its IT needs. Due to pending litigation in Washington, a spokeswoman from Reilly's office had no comment on the European Union's potential product remedies. Still, some observers say the EU's decision not to settle with Microsoft validates Reilly's stand.

In the another-country-heard-from category, Japan apparently staged a raid last month on Microsoft's Tokyo base. It's unclear if the action by the country's Fair Trade Commission is more than a symbolic gesture. It may be a case of yet another legal body jumping on the pig pile.