New & Noteworthy: Apple year-end financials; Office v.X; Jordan Hubbard on the Mac OS; more

Jobs earns $1; Apple stores face loss (Apple year-end financial news) From Yahoo/CNet: "Like other PC companies, Apple endured a tough year. Following double-digit growth in fiscal year 2000, the company saw double-digit declines in 2001. Only the iBook, the company's consumer portable, saw sales rise." More. Also see coverage from Reuters and Bloomberg.

Well-received Mac Office suite helps take bite out of rivalry From the Boston Globe: "Just four years ago, many a Mac user cursed at the mention of Microsoft, a company they blamed for stealing Apple's ideas and stifling its prospects. But these days, when Microsoft people turn up at an Apple trade show, the Mac loyalists cheer for them." More.

Open source star Jordan Hubbard joins quest for new Mac OS (Note: Mr. Hubbard joined Apple in June; see previous.) From New York Times News Service "Seeing Hubbard with an Apple employee ID clipped to his jeans was something of a shock, like seeing Ken Starr in a Victoria's Secret commercial." More.

Demand Grows for Net Service at High Speed From the New York Times: "It has been a tumultuous year for providers of high-speed Internet service. Three companies that offer it over phone lines filed for bankruptcy. So did the leading provider of high-speed Internet service over cable TV systems, Excite@Home. And the largest cable company, AT&T Broadband, spent much of the year trying to decide its future before finally falling into the arms of Comcast last week. While each of these events had some effect on customers, nothing has deterred an increasing number of Americans from signing up for high-speed - or broadband - Internet access." More.

Trying to Keep Young Internet Users From a Life of Piracy From the New York Times: "As children have access to computers earlier and earlier in their educational careers, experts in piracy, hacking and other forms of Internet mischief say that any effort to tackle the illicit trade in digital goods - including video games, computer software, music and even movies - should be looking at a younger crowd." More.

New Web ads are more noticeable -- and disruptive From CNN: "Floating' ads at Yahoo!, The Boston Globe's Boston.com, The Los Angeles Times, About.com and scores of other Web sites are among the latest designed to grab the attention of Web frequenters. Traditional banner ads don't sell as well these days, forcing sites to experiment with larger sizes and more disruptive formats." More.

Hewlett Aims to Replace the Print Shop From the New York Times: "Another Hewlett-Packard ambition: to extend the reach of its dominant printing and imaging division, which rang up $20 billion in sales this year, 43 percent of the company's revenue. Even with the company's market dominance, only 4 percent of the trillions of pages printed across the world each year are printed on desktop printers." More.