Why is it taking so long for Apple to start iPhoto Album service to certain parts of Europe? Because they couldn't find a printer that could do it well enough and cheaply enough. After a long and tedious search, sources inside Apple tell Think Secret, the company gave up and worked out an arrangement with the US-based printer My Publisher of Valhalla, NY, and will be exporting albums to Europe. Expensive? You bet. How much? Apple isn't saying, but sources say it will be a lot more than the US$29.99 Americans are paying for 10 pages. So now with a printer in place, more problems persist. Apple and My Publisher are trying to work out the shipping and cost logistics before announcing when the service will really start. Another Apple soap opera continues with few public explanations.

With the 2004 presidential campaign kicking into high gear, the family of Apple CEO Steve Jobs donated to two candidates in the last quarter, according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. Laurene Powell Jobs, the CEO's spouse and a California Delegate for the 2000 Democratic National Convention, contributed $750 to the campaign for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and the maximum $2000 to the candidacy of Congressman Richard Gephardt, both in December 2003; Gephardt dropped out of the race in January. The donations follow a $1,000 contribution to the Dean campaign in May 2003. The last donation in the CEO's name was in November 2000, when he contributed $50,000 to the Democratic National Committee, following contributions to Bill Bradley, Edward Kennedy, and the Committee for a Democratic Majority. FEC filings also note that Apple CFO Fred Anderson, who recently announced his retirement, made a $2,000 Christmas Eve contribution to the now-defunct campaign for Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark.