OS and Software > All Things Macintosh > Goodbye MacAddict

Goodbye MacAddict

Hm, I think I know someone who would like that Editor-in-Chief position....

reply to The Dv8or
Here is a post from the current Editor in Chief about it, interesting read:

Ah, the Web ... we're all one big info-sharing family these days, eh?

We were juuust about to go public with our plans for the new, bigger, better magazine, but we wanted to get all of our personnel ducks in a row, first. But now that the word is out, here's the deal:

1. MacAddict is, indeed, changing its name to MacLife early next year.

2. The new magazine will be bigger, thicker, better-looking, and stuffed with how-to articles, more-ambitious feature stories, authoritative reviews, and plenty of the engaging, entertaining content that has made MacAddict so popular and such an enjoyable read.

3. The name MacAddict was from another time (1996), back when our stories were about "Fighting Back for the Mac." Apple was on the ropes, and a feisty attitude was exactly the right tack to take. Today, Apple is riding high -- its products are the most elegant, coolest, most industry-influencing available. We don't need to fight back anymore. We won.

4. I'm not going away; I'll still be an integral part of the MacLife team, but I'll be contributing in a different way -- I'd tell you more about it now, but, hey, we have to keep some surprises, right? One major hint: When you see your first copy of big, thick, gorgeous MacLife, fire up Safari and browse on over to MacLife.com. Oh, and if you're interested, moving on from being the editor in chief to my new role was my idea, not management's.

5. Times change. Magazines change. Those that don't respond to new realities -- such as the fact that Apple is doing great and that our lives have become Mac lives -- wither and fade. Personally, I'm not a witherer and a fader -- and neither are our readers. Next year is going to kick serious hiney -- and MacLife will be kicking it along with Apple and all the third-party hardware and software folks. When MacAddict launched in September of 1996, its first cover contained the message "Why the Mac's Future Is Bright," but the article that accompanied that statement had more than a little whistling in the dark in it. Today, there's no question that the Mac -- and Apple, and the iPod, and whatever comes next -- has a sparkling future. So we're going to create an equally sparkling, entertaining, info-packed, gorgeous new magazine. The time is right; the time is now.

Rik Myslewski
Editor in Chief
MacAddict

reply to The Dv8or
Ah, pushin around the little guy to get his domain. I wonder how much they coughed up.
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You're so vain... I bet you think this post is about you.

reply to rexbinary
"We don't need to fight back anymore. We won."

Bahaha, what did you win?
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reply to The Dv8or
Best Deal Magazines always has MacAddict for $5.95 / year:
»www.bestdealmagazines.com/title.···C+ADDICT

Use coupon code VALUE18 to get 18% off, but it expires soon.

reply to The Dv8or
Come on, guys. I love my mac, OS X, and my ipod as much as anyone, but "we won" ??!!

There is no "won" in the computer industry, only still living. Particularly when your share of the computer market is 7% at best.

This is stupid. MacLife doesn't mean anything more to me than MacAddict did. It's just a break with the past because they were going downhill and needed to disassociate themselves with a magazine rapidly losing popularity.

reply to The Dv8or
MacAddict needed a face lift. If what the current Editor in Chief says is true, than I might think about subscribing sometime down the road.
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Visit Team Helix and be a part of those who are changing lives one fold at a time!

reply to Scott W

reply to Scott W
It's true that without a Jobsian approach Apple could do stupid things like

- licensing FairPlay
- licensing OS X
- spewing out a huge number of products with crazy names like the "iMac 2751CX"
- renting songs and movies
- letting the iPod play WMA
- making a cheap tower that lets the user "expand" everything
- wasting money on "gamer" things that nobody would buy
- selling copies of Windows with the Mac hardware
- adding idiotic features like FM radio and dictation to the iPod

Any or all of which might be advocated by clueless executives who listen to people who have no idea what they are talking about.

And any or all of which would spiral Apple into red ink.

But hopefully Jobs has people ready to step in who aren't stupid enough to do those types of suicidal things.

The October financials are estimated to be stunning. Can't wait to see them. We already know they at least hit the estimates because they haven't warned.

reply to The Dv8or
There is a difference in a magazine declaring the war of Mac vs PC over and being won and concluding/believing Apple is at risk based on such a statement by a magazine editor. Also market research groups count old/retired(3-5yr old) & new PCs so marketshare data is very skewed- a computer may ship with Windows/MacOS but later uses could be for Linux/Unix/BSD. I've ordered Dell machines with Windows but nuked the OS & tossed the CD+license because it'll be a Linux server til death/scrapheap.
If/when Steve Jobs retires, whoever steps in will have huge shoes to fill and the press watching every move/decision closely for a gloom & doom.

A rename to MacLife reminds me of that big magazine catalog called Mac Directory with reviews and how-to... it lost magazine shelf space at quite a few non-bookstores upon the staff/publisher changing every 2-3 months into a quarterly. I'm worried about Mac Addict transition to MacLife will go in the same direction, there is only so much a magazine can try reaching additional readership or find a way to fluff up their numbers.

I've been subscribing to MA since 1998, the transition of new editors/staff, dotcom boom to collapse, etc put a dent into growth with product info/reviews rapidly being posted online. Ever since Rik became editor the humour had began to get toned down, The Disc being geared towards commerical product demos for ad revenue so free/shareware developer submissions became squeezed out, Max going MIA then returning. Honestly I haven't been reading the issues completely anymore, Niko is maybe the reason I still like MA... I miss Ian & Prison Guy