Stan's List

AppleInsider: Photoshop co-designer Scott Byer said Thursday that his team fully intends to launch a 64-bit version of its popular image editor, but that doing so for the upcoming version included with Creative Suite 3.0 (CS3) would be impractical. More …

Apple CEO Steve Jobs received his usual $1.00 salary and no bonus for 2006, despite Apple’s bumper year – the best on record, MarketWatch reports.

The information was revealed in Friday’s 10-Q filing with the SEC, in which Apple also took a non-cash charge of over $80 million, following its internal investigation into stock option grant misdemeanours.

As MarketWatch notes, Jobs was originally awarded stock options in 2003, which were then cancelled. He was subsequently ‘gifted’ 10 million split-adjusted shares by Apple. Jobs has not sold the shares.

Other Apple execs have been remunerated handsomely. More …

Got $300 worth of nickels? ZoomSystems supples iPod vending machines at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, as AJC reports.

Surprisingly, buying iPods from vending machines has proven so popular that the company can’t keep them in stock. More …

What didn’t ship in 2006? Wired has the list of all the stuff that didn’t happen this year.

# 8 on the list is the much-fabled ‘iPod Killer’. Microsoft did indeed ship the Zune in November, but no firm is closer to shipping an iPod killer than they were two or even three years ago More …

Reports have indicated that Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not personally profit from the the stock option back-dating issue. He knew about them but was unaware that they were illegal. Apple stock did very well after the announcement.

Today, Apple issued a press release on its internal investigation of back-dating stock options for some executives and filed with the SEC Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2006 and Form 10-K for the 2006 fiscal year ending September 30. Both SEC forms had been delayed due to the investigation. The total effect of the issue is to understate compensation by $84M for the period beginning in 1997 though 2006, a seemingly mere drop in the bucket.

Here is the full text of Apple’s press release:

Apple® today filed its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 1, 2006 and its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Both filings had been delayed pending the conclusion of an independent investigation by the special committee of the board of directors into past stock option practices and the resulting restatement of the Company’s financial results. Apple undertook this investigation on its own initiative and has informed the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the results.

“The special committee, its independent counsel and forensic accountants have performed an exhaustive investigation of Apple’s stock option granting practices,” in a joint statement said Al Gore, chair of the special committee, and Jerome York, chair of Apple’s Audit and Finance Committee. “The board of directors is confident that the Company has corrected the problems that led to the restatement, and it has complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team.”

Peachpit is offering free passes to the upcoming Macworld Conference & Expo taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, January 9-12, 2007. To request a pair of passes (exhibit-only passes, a combined $90 value), send an email message to Peachpit with your name and postal address, and Peachpit will mail out the passes.

All free passes from Peachpit are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and Peachpit must receive requests by January 3, 2007.

If you prefer to register online and obtain your own free passes, simply go to this Macworld Web page and use the Priority Code: PC0249.

Microsoft has been sending out free top-of-the-line laptops pre-loaded with Vista as a ‘no strings attached gifts’. This ‘reward’ for their hard work on covering tech in general is coincidentally right before the launch of Vista to consumers. To be clear, these weren’t loans, they were gifts, and they were top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops. Microsoft blogger Long Zheng broke the silence over the source of the freebies. More …

So many iPods and iTunes gift certificates were unwrapped on Monday that the iTunes Music Store suffered a virtual meltdown, as shoppers hit the online music store to fill their ‘Pods with tracks.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the meltdown caused delays of up to 20 minutes, as shoppers purchased such a large number of audio tracks and videos. More …

Single of the Week

Texas singer-songwriter David Garza cuts an inspiring cloth when it comes to songwriting. His output verges on prolific and the quality of his songs, be they heartbroken laments or gripping, fuzzy rockers, rarely diminishes. Stylee, the “free” Single of the Week, falls into the latter category and hopefully sets you in motion to discover more of Garza’s eclectic style.

Check out all of this week’s “free” iTunes Store downloads.

IBD/TIPP’s survey data from their Home Computer Purchase Outlook Index shows that Apple’s Macintosh is closing on HP as one of the brands consumers are most likely to buy.

TechWeb reports that measurement of buyer intent for December 2006 shows Apple scoring 12%, HP 13% and Dell 43%. On the notebook front, the news was even better: Apple tied with HP (15%), while Dell scored 47%. The survey polled over 1,000 US residents. More …