Okay, let's see, here: Apple has already alienated several of its resellers to the point of legal action by first launching its own direct-sales online store and then by opening its own chain of retail locations. Assuming that the company won't be satisfied until it ticks off all of its resale partners, what else can Apple do to shake the hive a little more? Well, think about it for a sec; the Big Three in reseller categories are Online, Retail, and... Mail Order. We know, we know-- the whole "hey, I'm flipping through a dead-tree glossy catalog from MacWareZoneMallConnection so I can phone in an order for the latest version of RAM Doubler" just screams "1995." But the mail order catalogs (most of them, anyway) are still doing business, which means that Apple might well be looking for a way to chow down on a hunk of that pie.

As always, nothing's definite, but faithful viewer frozen tundra notes that Think Secret is reporting the existence of a "feasibility study" from "late last year" that Apple allegedly commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Yes, apparently those guys who tally up the Oscar votes actually do other things during the Academy Awards off-season. Go figure.) Apple reportedly hired PwC to investigate any "tax issues" surrounding the launch of a mail order direct sales business, and the findings appear to be largely favorable, indicating that if Apple goes the catalog route it may well be able to stiff all states but California on sales tax, and it closes by suggesting a cost/benefit analysis to determine whether such an expansion would be wise.

Oh, and did we mention that the whole mail order thing is reportedly referred to only as "Project Trident"? Oooooh, how James Bond! We bet the guy who assembled the report has a hideous facial scar, a monocle, and a Nehru jacket.

Whether or not the final cost/benefit analysis was ever completed is a matter of some speculation, but do you remember when Apple summarily shut down its manufacturing plant in Sacramento a few weeks back? Well, Think Secret reports "buzz" that the plant's closure "was related to the mail order operation." Apparently Apple still has a lease on the building, and there are rumors that the company "is making moves to install telephones and a work mezzanine to populate the building with sales callers and other staff." If that's the case, we'll probably hear about this move in some official capacity before the end of summer; you can't hide a few hundred phone slaves forever. At least, not without a really secluded place to bury the bodies.

Assuming that it does launch a catalog reseller subsidiary, the biggest hurdle that Apple now faces is the choice of a suitable name. Most of the obvious "MacSomething" monikers are taken, and with good reason, since federal statutes require the name of any Apple mail order reseller to start with the word "Mac." (CDW only got away with using its scofflaw moniker through the judicious application of a whole lotta bribes; now that it owns MacWarehouse it's technically in compliance.) Just about all that's left is "MacCallUsAndBuySomethingAlready," and we suspect that focus groups might feel it lacks "oomph." We'll see.