Things Macintosh

Mac Web Assimilation?

If power corrupts, what does Mac web consolidation do?

June 12, 2000 - Rodney O. Lain

Magneto stumbled over to a place in front of [Senator] Kelly [after having turned him into a mutant like himself] and weakly smiled. "Welcome to the future, brother."
- X-Men: The Movie, a novelization by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Top Quality Memory for Faster Mac Performance 1GB/2GB/4GB Kits from $23.99/$47.99/$94.99 Expert Support, Free Installation Videos & Guides, Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty - www.MacSales.com

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

During ancient Roman times, criticism was considered a respectable form of inquiry.

A critic wasn't seen as a hateful, negativity-prone rabble-rouser, but rather, he was seen as the ultimate patriot. A lover, not a fighter. Not a demagogue, but a cheerleader: "Two, four, six, eight! Who do we excoriate? Society! Culture! Establishment! Yaaaay!"

Several of us Mac writers view ourselves as this kind of critic vis-à-vis the Macintosh platform. I think I can speak for all of us "negative" types when I say that whenever we said anything "bad" about the Macintosh, about Apple, about the Mac community, it was in a spirit of concern, out of a desire to see and to spur improvement.

In this spirit, I want to address an aspect of the cyber-conglomeration we call the "Mac web," that loose association of web sites created and maintained by individuals and groups of individuals bound by their love of the Macintosh computing platform and all things related to it.

God knows how many web sites are out there dedicated to things Macintosh. There are many, and that is good, methinks. What I have mixed feelings about, however, is sporadic merging and gobbling up of smaller Mac web sites.

I have been witness to the personalities behind such merger-mania and have pondered the good that it does.

This may not mean much to the average Mac user out there, since this delves into what John H. Farr calls "navel gazing."

But, navel gaze, I must.

One of my favorite people is Canadian John Byrne, novelist, comic book artist/writer. One of his claims to fame, besides being a legend in the comics industry, is his direct involvement in creating the popular culture icon call the X-Men. The reason he's one of my favorite people is his one-man crusade to save the comics industry from itself.

In the spirit of the ancient Roman critic, he often editorializes in his books and in trade publications about the lack of originality in and the "sell out" mentality of his contemporaries. He reserves his most heated ire for the upstart kids who have taken over the industry with a USA Today approach.

I'm not saying this happens in the Mac web community, but I am saying that combining web sites sometimes dilutes the effect that some sites had in promoting the Cause.

The three stages of a Macintosh web site

Stage One: Many of us have done it: we loved the Mac, so much so that we posted a response or two to a forum in defense or support of the Mac. Some of us created Mac sites that were well received. Some of us went on to write for such burgeoning Mac web sites - often gratis. Money was never our intention.

Stage Two: Some of us realized, "Hey, I can make a buck at this." We asked for money in exchange for our written musings (or if we were webmasters, we asked for advertising), and we got it. Some of us were more managerial than literati, so we grouped together a few writers and a couple of editors, and then made a name for ourselves and our web sites. Fame followed - within the Mac web community, anyway.

Stage Three: The ultimate goal of the average business is to make more money this year than it did last year. This I know. For Mac web sites, that involves increasing scope and influence. Some believe that involves the big fish swallowing up the little fish. I've seen it attempted. It creates arrogance, attitudes of superiority....

I tested this a while back. I wrote an editor at one particular site, offering a submission. The response I received was, "I loathe you. You disgust me." Well, maybe I asked for that, looking back over my past writings, but I had to wonder if that particular editor would have said such things if their little site wasn't part of one of those cliques of Mac snobs - you know who you are.

I began to wonder if this consolidation of power and resources created any good in ways other than those Machiavellian.

After all, wasn't all of this stuff started out as for-fun - not for-profit - and out of a desire to spread the word?

Affiliation or Assimilation?

Now, there is nothing wrong with making a buck off this Mac web thing (after all, I don't work for free - I don't get rich, but I don't write in indentured servitude, either). But it pains me to wonder if we are becoming some of the things that we loathe.

For me, the Macintosh Way - to borrow Guy Kawasaki's term - represents a break with the run of the mill. The PC press, to me, consists of sterile writing that covers a sterile computing platform.

Run of the mill.

Are we fated to be no different? Look around us. Most of the web sites that used to be "fun" (I'm overusing the word, I know) are becoming bland. Yes, I know that the Mac community is "growing up," but must we?

I often hear of people trying to (re)discover their "inner child." For me, the Macintosh was a catalyst in that discovery process.

This is a minor digression from the things I usually write about, but I felt it needs to be said. Heck, it may even be stepping on the toes of sites that I write for. But I think they will respect this opinion.

Sure, make money, guys. In the words of Austin Powers: "Yay, capitalism!" But we shouldn't forget why we are doing this. Once we become focused on the money, it stops being fun. (Once more, I am never against making money.) When it stops being fun, the writing gets dull, listless, uninspiring.

Then where are the readers? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they one of our reasons for being?

It's just a thought for us when we find ourselves patting ourselves on the back on the number of hits that we are getting, how much ad revenue we're getting, and how our "competitor" just bought another great little web site.  LEM

Rodney O. Lain called himself a fashion victim: He liked wearing socks with his sandals. When he wasn't dispensing fashion advice, Rodney wrote for Low End Mac, The Mac Observer, Applelinks, and many other websites. Rodney lived in Minnesota. His site was iBrotha.com, and we have collected as much of his writing that has disappeared from the Web as possible in The Rodney O. Lain Archive.

The most widely read Things Macintosh columns

  1. Apple is a company, 10/4/1999
  2. The main difference between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, 1/17/2000
  3. The $600 iMac, 12/24/1999
  4. Apple will rule the computer world, 11/17/1999
  5. I'm not paying $20 for my OS X upgrade, 2001.07.25.
  6. A Mac is like Prozac, 10/13/1999
  7. I'm a drop the funk bomb on ya: Milking the Macintosh for all it's worth, 2001.03.20.
  8. More links and links to memorial articles in the Things Macintosh index.

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Latest Deals on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.