Welcome (and Goodbye)
Welcome to the final issue of About This Particular Macintosh! We’ve enjoyed the splendid ride. In the digital pages of our final issue, the editors of ATPM bring together 17 years of work chronicling what we have called “the personal computing experience.”
In 1996, Michael Tsai and I took over as co-publishers of ATPM. He was a high school student in New Hampshire, and I was an Apple product enthusiast living in the Hollywood Hills. Across this 3,000-mile divide, using old-fashioned phone lines and modems, we cobbled together a crew of editors and embarked on a digital adventure that has reached its destination today.
But this final issue of ATPM is not so much an end as it is the close of a chapter. This story lives on in the work of our contributing editors and continues to unfold at the many places across the Internet and around the world that each of us calls home.
When Michael announced the end of ATPM’s run, it was a statement of the inevitable and a statement the contributing editors knew was soon to come. In today’s computing world, writers and contributors no longer have one publication address. Readers travel the Internet in search of informative content. Today, ATPM gives way to the devices we heralded and the avenues of communication that dawned during our publication’s era.
During my long evening commute, I thought about what I’d like to say as the publication of ATPM comes to a ceremonial end. While driving the highways and byways of northern Los Angeles County with an iPhone 4S plugged into an auto adapter for evening calls, my old iPhone 3GS plugged into the car’s auxiliary jack for music, and my primary personal productivity device, an iPad, in my carry bag, I realized that much has changed since the days ATPM was sent out over a 2,400 baud modem attached to a Macintosh PowerPC in my living room. Today we access, consume, and distribute content anywhere and everywhere and through a variety of devices.
I look forward to meeting you, our readers, in the many different places we frequent on the Web. For readers who would like to continue reading my ongoing analysis of Apple, please visit my primary blog at Posts At Eventide. In this issue, many of our contributing editors will talk about where around the Web their work can be found.
Thank you for many years of support and readership.
Sincerely,
Robert Paul Leitao
Our May issue includes:
Publisher’s Letter
ATPM Publisher Michael Tsai writes about the difficult-but-inevitable decision to bring this chapter of the publication to a close.
Apple Cider: Look How Far We’ve Come
Tom Iovino shares his view of Macintosh computing, beginning with the summer of 1997 when the Apple faithful prayed their beloved computing platform would not be steamrolled by the Microsoft behemoth.
Bloggable: One Last Time, With Feeling
In one last Bloggable, Wes Meltzer offers a rumination about what a long, strange trip it’s been. He takes a detailed look at the case of Mike Daisey and agony, ecstasy, and untruth; a cruise around the tablet and mobile spaces; and the time he offered to eat his hat if Apple ever produced an iPhone.
Hollywood: First and Last
Mike Shields recaps his history with ATPM and lets you know where he can be read in the future. Because he can predict it.
Mac About Town: What a Ride! And It Ain’t Over Yet!
From Palm devices and AOL installation discs to iPhones and iPads, Mike Chamberlain reflects on the changes in his digital life since the time ATPM began publishing.
MacMuser: What Trick, What Device, What Starting-Hole…
Mark Tennent remains ever on the lookout for the next big thing to come along.
Next Actions: The Last Action
Ed Eubanks offers concluding thoughts about the practices of GTD on the Mac and iOS, as well as one last look at the “landscape” of GTD applications.
PEBKAC: Finales, Friendships, and the Future
Christopher Turner looks at what is, for him, the really important take-away from his time on staff at About This Particular Macintosh.
The Personal Computing Paradigm: How Cool Is Your Mac?
Michael Tsai finds out whether a 17-year-old test can still quantify how cool your Mac is.
Segments: About My Particular Macintoshes
David Ozab writes about the particular Macintoshes he owned during his time with About This Particular Macintosh.
Segments: From the Darkest Hour
Tom Bridge reminisces 15 years of Macintosh computing from his IT guy perspective.
Segments: Growing Up With Apple
Frank H. Wu describes the Apple computers he has experienced in the context of growing up in the late 1970s.
Segments: Recollections of ATPM by the Plucky Comic Relief
Although his path will likely lead him to a Windows PC as his primary computing platform, Edward Goss has fond memories of Macintosh days of old.
Segments: Shrinking Into an Expanding World
Miraz Jordan ponders the exciting world in which we live—a world where small is huge, carbon is king, graphene is queen, and atoms, anti-atoms, and photons are commonplace.
Desktop Pictures: Parting Shots
Mike Chamberlain contributes our final collection of desktop photos taken in Vietnam, Florida, Colorado, and Missouri. You can revisit our entire collection of archived desktop pictures.
The Spinning Beachball
Grant Osborne implies that rumors of liquid metal seem rather reminiscent. He also observes how issues of ATPM as well as a familiar multi-purpose device are all compatible with both a 90s-era Power Macintosh and a third-generation iPad.
Review: Camera I-O
Chris Turner’s testing of a top-secret piece of gear can now be revealed as Tom Bihn releases the Camera I-O case to the world.
Review: Draw Something 1.5.14
Addictive social drawing game that makes you look forward to correct guesses.
Review: Privacy and Big Data: The Players, Regulators, and Stakeholders
Our final book review looks at just what is meant by privacy and who is looking out for our rights.
Review: TouchStream LP
Paul Fatula writes about his favorite keyboard, an early exemplar of multi-touch technology.
Copyright © 2012 Robert Paul Leitao. Robert Paul Leitao is a contributing
editor at ATPM and is author of the Posts At Eventide and The iPad Chronicles blogs.
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