Lots of News, Some of It True
Where should you go to learn the latest developments on Macintosh computing?
Once upon a time, it was the trade paper MacWeek, whose impending transformation into eMediaweekly I lamented recently in this space. Nowadays, many of you argued in recent e-mails, the Web provides a more timely, diverse and reliable source for news on the Mac and Apple Computer.
If you’ve spent much time trolling for Mac news online, it shouldn’t come as a shock that those assumptions are partly true--the timely and diverse parts. There are scores, if not hundreds, of Mac-related Web sites that purport to offer news-oriented content. (And if you’re saturated with news and want to dig into some sites with credible opinion pieces, features, reviews and tips--in addition to some goofiness and Windows bashing--try MacHome, https://www.machome.com; Macworld, https://www.macworld.zdnet.com; or MacAddict, https://www.mac addict.com.)
Reliability is another question. Like just about every other topic on the Web, quality and attention to detail vary widely. Many of the sites clearly come from rank amateurs with a Mac chip on their shoulder or a desire to make a buck online.
Still, there’s a lot of great stuff if you show a little discrimination. You could spend weeks perusing just U.S. sites. Here are some pointers to help you sort the wheat from the chaff.
When a big story about Apple or the Mac hits, you’ll find ample coverage in the mainstream press. But those sources skip the day-to-day minutia that many Mac aficionados must have.
MacWeek Online (https://macweek.zdnet.com) will continue to trade in its usual mix of news and rumors even after the print version of that publication becomes eMediaweekly later this month. It’s still among the best online sources for Mac news, as is News.com (https://www.news.com).
MacTimes (https://www.mactimes.com/headlines) is not a news service so much as a clip service--culling stories from around the Web. Sources tend to be limited to the usual suspects, but they are conveniently categorized and more comprehensive than most other sources. MacSurfer Headline News (https://www.macsurfer.com) offers a similar approach but includes more stories about the computer industry at large. MacInTouch (https://www.macintouch.com) supplies a formidable array of technical and product updates--as good as any site I’ve seen. Unfortunately, it’s a tough read due to a crude layout and narrative style.
MacCentral Online (https://www.maccentral.com), and Macintosh Network News (https://www.macnn.com) contain scant original news reporting. But MacCentral has a user-friendly one-page layout of the day’s stories. Macintosh Network News collects interesting rumors about future Apple product plans and operating system (OS) developments, geared toward geeks and insiders.
Mac OS Rumors (https://www.macosrumors.com) is not what I’d call news, but it sometimes accurately predicts upcoming developments with the Mac OS and various Mac models weeks or months in advance.
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A few other sites billed as news-oriented, such as the Mac Resource Page (https://www.macresource.pair.com) and Macs Only (https://www.macsonly.com/index.html), also contain little or no original reporting, but they do link to wire stories, bug fixes and other product updates. Macs Only features a helpful quality rating of many CompUSA Apple stores-within-a-store.
I’d steer clear of a few other “news” sites: MacHome Headline news (https://www.machome.com)--the news portion of the MacHome site) offers no apparent news content. “News stories” are actually links to Apple PR and other vendor news releases, pro-Mac opinion stories and an occasional wire story. Mac OS Daily (https://www.macosdaily.com), “the No. 1 online news magazine for daily articles about the Macintosh computer industry,” didn’t provide any discernible news content in my several visits.
Apple says some 150,000 advance orders ensure that the newly minted iMac will enjoy the fastest start of any Mac model in history. If you’re among the hordes rushing out to buy the iMac, check out these sites: https://www.imacworld.com or https://imac.macguys.com.
My favorite Mac news site is MacPravda, “The Official News Organ of the Central Committee of Apple Computers” (https://www.turnleft.com/apple). Here’s what it has to say about the iMac roll-out, under the headline “Maximum Leader Jobs Announces New Computer”:
“Central News Service, Cupertino, People’s Republic of Apple: Chairman Jobs announced a new computer, named ‘iMac’ in order to honor the Chairman. ‘It is I who am the voice of the people of Apple,’ our chairman correctly pointed out. The new computer is the perfect machine for this worker’s paradise. People can enjoy downloading software via the Internet from their 100-megabit Ethernet networks, which all homes in the Republic have access to.”
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Times staff writer Charles Piller can be reached via e-mail at charles.piller@latimes.com.
