A New Direction

It was 1995, and the World Wide Web was just beginning to get noticed. Sure, those of us "into" computers knew something big was going to happen. America Online, Compuserve (now owned by AOL), Prodigy, and other online services were really starting to catch on. People wanted to communicate with others in this new medium of the online world. Everything from dating services to financial help to porn was taking root online, and you had pretty much a free ticket to it all via your computer and the cost of a small (usually under $20 per month) access fee. It was a whole new world, and as a new magazine publisher, it was a very exciting time.

Jump to 2000. My Mac will soon be entering our sixth year of publishing. I still can't retire and live off what My Mac brings in financially, but I never thought I would be able to anyway. I do this for fun, not fame or fortune (unlike many, MANY of the other Mac websites out there run by young 20-somethings who seem to think they will be the next Steve Jobs or Steve Case). Nope, I do this for the pure joy of it, as do our writers and artists. This is fun!

But our love of Macintosh computers, while our main focus as a magazine, doesn't entirely define who we are as both a staff and a family (yes, the My Mac staff is much like an online family to me). So why does My Mac, which is really anything we want it to be, have to limit its content to only that of the Macintosh world? "Because that's what our readers are interested in," some say. But is this ALL our readers are interested in? I don't think so.

So when Beth started writing some non-Mac stories, as Barbara and Pete had also done a while back, I entertained the idea of starting yet another magazine or website where stories on any subject could find a home. It would have been a lot of fun to do, sure, but also a lot of time and work. Now, my time is limited as it is, and I have more than enough work to do, between raising two young kids, owning a home, working full-time as an IT manager, and many other things (not to mention the magazine itself). With these responsibilities, there just wasn't enough time to take on another big project. There had to be a better solution.

There was, and it was staring me right in the face all the time. I didn't need another website to post non-Mac-related stories and writings from our staff, not when I could simply find space for them on our current website and let our readers decide for themselves if they wanted to read them.

After thinking about it, I've decided to do just that. From this point on, My Mac Magazine will continue to focus on Macintosh-related subjects just as it always has, but the Online Exclusives section of our website http://www.mymac.com will begin to include a wide variety of stories and articles from our talented, imaginative staff. These online stories may or may not be "about" Macintosh computers, but I can guarantee they'll be written using one!

The first of these has already been published, some great writing from our own Roger Born. If you're not currently online, drop by our website and read them when you get a chance. Additional stories will be posted at various times throughout the months ahead.

I'm confident you're going to like our new online content, but as a 'different thinker' yourself, you may have some thoughts of your own on the subject. If that's the case, I cordially invite you to write to me publisher@mymac.com and let me know what you're thinking.

Thank you.

Tim Robertson
publisher@mymac.com