Just when you thought things couldn't get any sadder, Imatec continues to surprise and disgust. Dr. Hanoch Shalit, the man seeking $1.1 billion in damages from Apple Computer due to alleged patent infringement in ColorSync, may have reached a new low when it was confirmed that he had sent out letters threatening legal action to high-profile users of Apple's color-matching technology. But just in case that doesn't push all your outrage buttons, fear not-- he's got all the bases covered when it comes to losing public support. Faithful viewer James Sorenson notes that MacInTouch's special report on the continuing Imatec suit now includes details of a classified ad placed by Shalit, who is seeking ex-Apple employees willing to rat out their former boss for cash.

Of course, the ad doesn't put it quite so bluntly, but it bears the now-classic Shalit Sledgehammer Subtlety. Rather than offering outright bribes to potential stool pigeons, the ad, which appeared in the business section of last Monday's San Jose Mercury News, instead promises "industry standard consulting fees and expenses" to any disgruntled ex-Applefolk who care to provide "first hand knowledge or documentary evidence" of "Apple's infringement of intellectual property." Eeewww, it just makes us want to take a shower. It's a safe bet that anyone who still held the slightest remaining shred of sympathy for Dr. Shalit's plight will likely lose it after seeing this ad. We can only assume that Dr. Shalit is campaigning hard for the prestigious "Slime of the Year" award.

And that's an important point-- whether or not Dr. Shalit's case has merit (a distinct possibility, as faithful viewer David Portela reminds us), the way he's handled this whole thing from the beginning paints him as a money-grubbing sleaze just looking to make a quick buck through his non-revenue-producing company. He himself has confirmed that Imatec now uses "most resources" on the Apple suit, rather than working to make money by creating and selling an actual product. Now, granted, given that ColorSync is free, it's tough to sell a competing product, but ColorSync is Mac-only. And surely a man with as little subtlety, style, and grace as Hanoch Shalit would be happier playing in the Windows camp anyway, right?

ExpoScam continues to rage, as Apple keeps decidedly mum on the subject-- beyond apparently confirming that the company will not have even a "token presence" at Apple Expo 2000. Macworld UK has now started referring to the show as "beleaguered," a term once applied only to seriously distressed multi-billion-dollar computer companies like Compaq. Yes, that's how much trouble the show is in; while it was originally poised to be the largest expo ever held in the U.K., now that Apple's pulled out, it may no longer happen at all. An open letter to Steve Jobs from Faye Moss, the show's sales manager, is a good distillation of the frustration seething throughout the U.K. Mac community.

What we at AtAT don't really understand is why Apple won't even agree to a "token presence." Our understanding is that Steve Jobs, who was originally scheduled to issue one of his patented keynote addresses at the show, decided to bail because another opportunity arose to keynote at a different show at the same time. Okay-- we're not big fans of breaking a date because a "better offer" comes around, but we can understand how a mercurial iCEO might behave that way. But just because Steve won't keynote doesn't seem like a reason for Apple not to attend at all.

I was just at a neurosurgical trade show on non-AtAT business, and buried way at the back of the hall away from all the big vendors of bone saws and retractors was an Apple booth. Well, okay, it wasn't really a booth, per se, unless by "booth" you mean "little table displaying a single iMac DV and a lone PowerBook." It was manned by a single Apple representative from the Scientific and Medical Markets division, who was very friendly and more than willing to swap iMac stories for a few minutes. No other computer manufacturers were in attendance. So if Apple can spare a token presence at a show whose focus was as seemingly off-topic as brain surgery, why won't they show up at Apple Expo 2000?

Another Macworld UK article posits the obvious theory: money. It's possible that Apple UK simply hasn't raked in enough moolah to justify attending Apple Expo 2000. Establishing a big, impressive presence at a trade show takes some serious cash, and it's certainly a possibility that Apple UK can't spare it. As for establishing a token presence instead, well, they may have decided that not showing up at all is preferable to attending but looking cheap. Still, we wish that somebody from Apple would say something to calm things down. Hordes of frothing Englishmen with torches and pitchforks attacking Apple's headquarters, while potentially entertaining, would probably be a Bad Thing™.

You know, we never thought we'd say this, but the phrase "all-time high" when applied to Apple's stock price has actually gotten kinda... well... boring. Okay, Apple's doing better than ever. Yes, the stock price reached $83 or thereabouts-- the highest it's ever been in the entire history of the company. But the thing is, for the last few months, "all-time high" has almost been the rule for AAPL, not the exception. After all, once you reach an all-time high, as long as you keep going up, you'll hit a new all-time high day after day after day.

It's not that we're not happy for Apple. We are. And it's not that we're bitter than we had a chance to buy AAPL at $16 and didn't. We're not. (Well, okay, maybe we're a little bitter.) It's really just that Apple's "all-time highs" keep making the headlines, and these days it's much more of a "Dog Bites Man" story than "Man Bites Dog" (or, if you're more into the Post than the Times, "Man Weds Dog In Vegas Ceremony, Blames Steve's Bad Acid"). The same thing goes for analyst upgrades. Take this Reuters article, for instance: a Bear Stearns analyst has upped its 12-month price target for AAPL from $75-$80 to $90-$95. Really, that's great and everything, but is it really news? Given that Apple's stock price is over $80, if this analyst hadn't raised his target, he'd soon be asking you whether you'd care to Super-Size your fries.

On the other hand, if these articles get the news about Apple's extraordinary performance out to more people who don't already know, well, then we suppose that's a good thing. More people will buy the stock, the price will keep going up, we'll keep getting more "all-time high" articles, and the cycle will continue ad infinitum until Apple does something like issue an earnings warning. So we suppose we'll deal with the continued ho-hum wonderfulness of Apple's stock, since it's for the good of the company. All we ask is for the occasional bonehead controversy to keep things interesting-- is it a deal, Steve?