Interview With Macsurfer's Darren Mahaffy

Macsurfer has been covering the Mac rumor and news scene for years. In fact for everyone here, Macsurfer was one of (and for many, the first) Apple-related site we checked out on the web. I recently had a chance to do a Q & A with Darren Mahaffy, one of the Macsurfer editors. Try to remain calm when you hear what system he uses to work on Macsurfer...

For those who are newer to Macsurfer, give us some history of the site.

Well, MacSurfer was started by Phil Pearson back in 1995. He filled a niche of providing a one-stop-shop, so to speak, for Apple news, troubleshooting helps, reviews, and more.

Phil broke down the news of the day into categories. Rather than a chronological view of the news, he organized it by editorial importance.

So it has continued to this day. I've been working with Phil going on 6 years now. 

What changes have you/the site seen in that time? Specifically, the changes in interest in Apple during the iPod launch? iPhone?

MacSurfer has always aimed to present a simple layout without all the complications present in many of today's mainstream sites. So the site remained pretty much unchanged until a couple years back when MacSurfer underwent a revamp, moving to a PHP backend and adding features for subscribers, and more.

As for changes to MacSurfer induced by Apple, yeah, you could say there have been some. The iPod and iPhone added a new coverage category as has AppleTV, and who knows what else (Tablet?) coming down the pike.

These devices have put Apple products into the hands of people who may or may not own a Mac. People Google for news, reviews, rumors, etc., on these products and in many instances come to MacSurfer for the first time and end up visiting regularly for the latest news and info.

The interest in games is particularly high for iPhone and iPod touch. I've had a number of readers write in about game coverage. There's no end of material from Touch Arcade, and many other sites on that front.

It seems that interest in the iPod itself has waned a bit even with the new shuffle. On the other hand, the iPod is now ubiquitous. Until the iPhone hit the scene, iPod news was plentiful. I imagine that once the iPhone is loosed from AT&T's grip it, too, will become ubiquitous.

But I suspect Apple will always keep the pot fresh, thus keep the news flowing.
  

How has mainstream media coverage of Apple changed over that time?

Going back to the late 90's, with one foot in the grave, media coverage was reflecting such sentiments... and was mostly negative.  Then Steve Jobs came back and turned Apple from a company at death's door into the underdog everyone wanted to root for.

I think the news is still largely positive; however, there are critics. Criticism of Apple ticks some people off, but I think (some of) it is good for the Apple ecosystem. It can serve to sharpen an Apple fan's understanding of the products and limitations, while at the same time sharpening skills to respond to those critics in a reasoned fashion.

Pertaining to coverage since iPod/iPhone releases, I'd say coverage has been largely positive. The proliferation of apps for the iPhone is enormous, and news coverage reflects that.

Has the increase in people owning Apple products led to an increase in interest in the site? Are casual users interested in mac news/rumors?

Definitely. We've had Mac converts write in and thank us for the site and usefulness. If my own personal experience counts for anything, the answer to your second question is certainly yes. People who know me will ask me about something they heard on the news, or read on the web about some exciting product rumored from Apple. They may or may not have read the report on MacSurfer, but chances are we're on top of the report(s).

Macsurfer works as a news aggregator of sorts for Apple news, but you don't often voice your opinion on Apple/Apple decisions. Anything you want to get off your chest?

LOL. Well, I do have a personal blog but don't get to it very often. It is over at dmahaffy.com.

I was fairly vocal about MobileMe on my blog. As an original iTools guy, I had my ".mac" address and all that. There was a certain pride that went along with the whole package that set one apart. Like the "crazy ones", like those who "think different".

But when MobileMe hit the scene, IMHO, Apple geared the service toward Mac/iPhone owners specifically. I'm a Verizon guy, so no iPhone (for now). Anyhow, I was thoroughly disppointed in the online versions of apps ... still am. I don't like the name of the service, either. But that's neither here nor there, just my opinion. Right before MobileMe debuted I decided to give Google Apps a try. My wife and I found Google Calendar to be fantastic, Gmail as well. We saw no reason to keep forking over $100+/year for a service that was not meeting our needs in the way the free Google service did.

As for other gripes with Apple. I don't like the premium pricing (but as an investor in AAPL, I do). I'm not one who can afford to run out and buy new hardware. Once upon a time I could, but no more. 4 kids, house, etc., make sure that doesn't happen. So I'm stuck in PowerPC land (aging 1.33GHz 17" PowerBook G4 with 2GB RAM), and that's becoming an exercise in frustration on a daily basis. I hit hundreds of sites every day, and web sites are using more technology that seems to strain the PPC. I watch processor usage, RAM usage on Safari, Firefox, and Camino, and after a few hours, my system begins to drag.  I know Intel Macs are speedy. I've played with 'em. I'd be all over one if I could.

And much to the chagrin of many who will read this, I will use my IBM NetVista (Pentium 4, 512MB RAM) for work because it is so much faster. And that with Windows XP SP3. It is more of a backup system in case my PowerBook should drop dead. Unfortunately on Windows I cannot replicate the AppleScripts I wrote for the job on the Windows platform. I use MacroExpress (good, but not AppleScript), and EditPlus. Firefox 3 on the PC is SO much faster than Firefox 3.x, and Safari 4 beta on my PPC Mac.

And for the record, no, I do not *love* my PC. I am a Mac. OS X eats XP for lunch. I'm a power user of both. My PC is a tool that works faster for me even though AppleScript is something I have a hard time doing MacSurfer without.

I would love to make the NetVista into a hackintosh, but time forbids, and conscience quivers. There I guess is another gripe. I'd love to see OS X box sets for regular old hardware. But as an Apple investor, I see that as being a potential problem.

Lastly, my other gripe(s) at this stage of the game is with Mozilla for breaking AppleScript support in Firefox 3.x. I've been vocal (on my blog) about this.

I just downloaded 3.5 b4 and things are still broken. The newest nighly builds 3.6a1pre have better support - but glaringly omit a way to grab the URL. So things still are not fixed. It boggles my mind that Mozilla has not fixed this yet. I realize they are busy ... but when you break something that worked in a previous version (2.x), shouldn't you fix it post-haste in the new version? But I digress...

Our thanks to Darren for taking the time to do our interview, and for being candid in his answers.

TDL Live This Week (5/4/09)

Another week has come and gone, which means another seven days of tech news need to be placed in a fishbowl and read in a random fashion. Enjoy this week's TDL Live. Oh, and Adam might be contagious:

Sorry Computerworld, You're Just Plain Wrong

You have to take it with a grain of salt when a predominantly PC magazine decides to talk about Apple. After all, are they hedging their bets, placating their masses, or just trying to fire up the Apple faithful to generate more hits? Those are the questions raised in the latest article by Dan Turner for the magazine.

The gist is this: Apple's best days are behind it, and it's not what it used to be. Turner goes on to lay out a highly accurate history of Apple's various stages over the years, but then undercuts his argument with this:

Look at the Apple rumor sites -- the one or two left, I mean. The snooping and Kremlinology involved in building up best guesses and sneak peeks at Apple's next "One More Thing" was a veritable cottage industry, especially for those of us on the guessing end of things. Some pundits lazily made a career out of taking easy pot shots at the Mac faithful's clockwork frenzy around Jobs' keynote speeches.

Really, Dan? The only Apple rumor sites that have disappeared of merit are MacMinute, with the death of founder Stan Flack, and As The Apple Turns (we still miss you, Jack, please come back!) which disappeared long before Apple's newfound stature. As the founder of the first online video channel of Apple news and lifestyle, I take offense to this concept that somehow people are less interested in Apple today. I know our own videos, especially those related to the iPhone are tremendously popular. 

True, the days of juicy rumors squeaking out of Cupertino may be past, or at least diminished (didn't we get a leaked mac mini shot just this week?) but that doesn't translate to loss of interest in the company. I would encourage Dan to look at the reduction in PC publications/Expos/websites as well. I would guess the percentage is at least as high as for Apple sites. We're in a recession. Some businesses don't make it.

Oh, and the irony of the end of your quote above isn't lost on us: "Some pundits lazily made a career out of taking easy pot shots at the Mac faithful..."

Really?

TDL Live This Week (2/16/09)

Well, if you missed last night's TDL Live, here's your chance to take some of the workday and enjoy it. You've been way too productive today anyhow. Plus you'll get to see some juggling, and more movie references than any other episode. Oh, and you'll get our look at the Apple news of the week as well.

TDL Live and a Special Thanks

Here's this week's TDL Live. Originally airing before our "Welcome to Macintosh" documentary event, there's a live skype interview with the filmmakers in the second half of the show. We also cover the post-Macworld news. Enjoy, and don't forget, you can subscribe to the show as well: