What happened to the Mac community here on Neowin?

[KeR]

Believe it or not back in 2003 this forum here is the reason I ended up switching. The Mac community was really active, sad to see no one is posting anything here.

 

As a matter of fact, just replaced the battery on the old iPod so I could do this:

 

[Sikh]

I think most of us moved to Macrumors because it made sense.

I have been lurking for years here but am active on MR and Reddit.

[+Dick Montage Subscriber²]

Got bored of any post about anything Apple being besieged with idiots making their usual idiotic comments about:

• Could build cheaper
• Markup
• Sheep
• Android

[KeR]

On 07/08/2021 at 17:49, Sikh said:

I think most of us moved to Macrumors because it made sense.

I have been lurking for years here but am active on MR and Reddit.

I mean yeah true, thats where I moved to as well

[freedonX]

On 07/08/2021 at 18:34, Dick Montage said:

Got bored of any post about anything Apple being besieged with idiots making their usual idiotic comments about:

• Could build cheaper
• Markup
• Sheep
• Android

Curios, and like 80% out of topic. Have you read the book "Start with Why"?

[+Dick Montage Subscriber²]

On 10/08/2021 at 00:49, freedonX said:

Curios, and like 80% out of topic. Have you read the book "Start with Why"?

No I have not.  But I put much of it down to the current wave of tribalism.  It has pervaded everything.  

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I think activity in general on forums has decreased over the years, older members have moved on and few new members have replaced them.

Look at the Gamers Hangout section, once this was one of the most active subforums on Neowin, however as of the time of posting theirs not been a single post in almost two days.

These days people seem to prefer social media, Discord and Reddit over more traditional forums. Which I do find sad in some ways, you could find some historically useful information posted 20 years ago on Neowin, you’d struggle to find something posted two weeks ago on social media.

[freedonX]

On 10/08/2021 at 03:55, InsaneNutter said:

I think activity in general on forums has decreased over the years, older members have moved on and few new members have replaced them.

Look at the Gamers Hangout section, once this was one of the most active subforums on Neowin, however as of the time of posting theirs not been a single post in almost two days.

These days people seem to prefer social media, Discord and Reddit over more traditional forums. Which I do find sad in some ways, you could find some historically useful information posted 20 years ago on Neowin, you’d struggle to find something posted two weeks ago on social media.

I still prefer forums to interact with others. Better organization and it's not limited to just the lastest trend and forget about the rest.

[Ve7878]

I also prefer forums over Discord etc. Sure, they have their place but nothing beats an easy accessible archive, they're especially useful for finding information about obscure kit or software.

 

It's a shame there isn't more of a Mac community here. I recently started taking an interest in Macs with the release of the M1 chip and invested in an MBA last month, very impressed so far.

[+Kyle Subscriber¹]

We just need more Mac news. It's been the same product for a while. 

 

Hope they make a splash soon. 

[allannyholm]

It's a much more diverse Apple we're seeing now than e.g 15 years ago and as such there's much more to discuss in terms of gender in the workplace, sexuality in the workplace & equal pay.

 

And as we grow older, I can certainly see myself, a long-time Apple and Mac user, having no place for new thoughts that are in line with the Apple of today. In fact I often get into trouble because I have an urge to express myself in any way possible concerning most issues related to the woke-ness that is going on. I can of course restrain myself and I don't always comment in a style that is upsetting people on forums.

Sure, I can post a desktop screenshot now and again. I can even discuss new or old applications getting updates that come out of the blue- like Eyeballs now at version 3.5 and M1-ready. I mean who would have thought that a pair of eyes in the menubar following the cursor around on screen would see a comeback this large.. even free now on top of it all.

Mostly I dabble with customizing macOS still. Nobody told me that it's over with - or I just don't listen.

 

So why aren't we Mac-users more interested in voicing Apple related news on a primarily Microsoft forum? I don't have the answer. Yet. Oh wait,, maybe it's because it's not proper in a sense.

 

I got hell for posting a screenshot of me theming using a program called IconChamp-- I haven't forgotten the comments that came after by a user on here. I could not for the life of me explain myself well enough or get the information into the skull of said user, who I will not mention. I retreated and called it quits on Neowin for a while.. I even said my goodbyes to Steve and revealed my reasons for leaving(which was a dumb move, I know)

 

I've now learned that saying your goodbyes on the Internet is like leaving public transport announcing that "This is my stop and I'm getting off now!) NOBODY CARES.

[Gone]

Apple hasn't had any Macs worth buying for nearly a decade sadly.

Tim Cook recently stated that he's sick of people using their devices for content consumption instead of creation.

I would be using Macs for content creation if it weren't for the fact that:

RAM & storage is soldered, you have to pay up front for the premium options at outrageous prices, compared to equivelant PC counterparts (e.g. $800 for a 1TB hard drive from Apple, $200-300 for a better quality Samsung or Seagate drive).

Trying to make everything thinner (Desktops don't need to be thin)

Getting rid of useful ports  (e.g. micro/sd card), getting rid of the Magsafe port (though USB-C is great)

 

I won't buy a Mac for content creation when it requires me to sync all my files to an external drive that can survive the computer dying. I have been wanting to buy a Macbook Pro for six or so years, but they had the garbage keyboard with a high failure rate. 
Now they have brought back a functional keyboard but have no option with physical function keys, it's all "touch bar". I don't want a touch bar, I want keys that I can press without looking. Anyone that needs to look at a keyboard to press buttons is not someone who has been typing for two and a half decades.

 

The Mac Mini is a somewhat decent option but now they solder their storage. That's a no go for me. The Mac Pro is too big and is more power than I need. I would love to have a Mac Mini that allowed user serviceable storage and ram options, but long gone is the Apple of that Era.

 

So in short, the forum has died because Macs just aren't really that exciting or worth buying anymore. Apple has put little investment into that platform and has become an content-consumption device company, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. Maybe with Tim Cook's new statement of his displeasure at the use of Apple Devices, maybe they will re-evaluate their computer offerings.