Apple Gets an iSpanking - Rebates All Around

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Listen up! If you owned an Apple Powerbook around 2001, you may be eligible for a $25 to $75 rebate that is part of a class action settlement over fritzy power adaptors that came with said Powerbooks at the time. The ink should be dry on the settlement around mid-September. About two million people would be eligible for one of those little checks (down payment on an iPhone, perhaps?).

The second item applies to Apple customers in Canada, not the United States. Apple is handing out $45 rebates to any Canadian who bought an iPod prior to June of 2004 after getting thumped for misleading customers with advertising claiming a longer battery life than delivered. Good for Canada for keeping Cupertino honest. Too bad more tech companies aren't held accountable more often.

$25 - $75 checks may not sound like much (and it isn't if you've ever gone shopping in an Apple Store). But, it makes a point and all those little checks add up to one big hand slap on Apple.

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio