Is It CREATE or Capitulate?

This summer’s traditional Macworld Expo has been renamed CREATE. The revamped show will not feature a keynote address by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, nor will it have a consumer product focus. The new show is being tailored to the interests of creative professionals and will highlight Mac-based solutions for the creative markets.

Over the past few years the number of companies that have chosen to forego expensive trade shows in favor of less costly marketing opportunities has continued to rise. Despite the continuing growth in the Macintosh market, it has also become increasingly difficult for Apple to maintain a product release schedule tuned to both summer and winter semi-Macworld Expo shows.

Some consider this decision to be a capitulation that the Mac maintains a relatively small market share and that the company cannot maintain consumer interest in two annual shows. Others see it as evidence that the Macintosh market is growing in new ways and that success will be found in providing more solutions to professionals and enterprise customers. The results of this summer’s CREATE expo may reveal the truth.

iGore

Vice President John Nance Garner once declared, “The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm spit.” But former Vice President Al Gore’s eight years of vice-presidential service may have been what earned him a seat on Apple’s board of directors. In March, Apple announced the appointment of private citizen Gore to the company’s board. Mr. Gore is filling one of two new board seats, increasing the number of board positions from five to seven. Another new outside director will be selected before the end of summer.

ATPM’s Spam Man

About This Particular Macintosh has been in continuous publication since early 1995. We’ve had the privilege and honor of chronicling the Macintosh experience for our readers from the days just before the Internet’s mass adoption by Macintosh users, to today’s mass adoption of Unix-based Mac OS X and the resurgence of the Macintosh platform in living rooms, schools, and businesses.

Over the years ATPM has been home to many bright and dedicated writers and editors who have devoted time and talent to the continuing development of our monthly Internet magazine. One constant through our years of change has been the work of Michael Tsai, ATPM’s publisher.

Recently Michael stepped beyond the role of Internet publisher to create a practical solution for a problem plaguing most Mac users—e-mail spam. Michael’s SpamSieve product was favorably reviewed in the April 2003 issue of Macworld as an inexpensive and effective solution to unsolicited junk e-mail hassles. We salute Michael’s efforts and suggest that Mac users plagued with junk mail issues give the free demo of Michael’s product a try.

Hail to the Vice Chief

We have one more vice to mention. The late Vice President Hubert Humphrey once said, “The President has only 190 million bosses. The Vice President has 190 million and one.” In our case, this quote might apply to one of ATPM’s most important yet least acknowledged jobs—managing editor.

We take seriously the feedback from our readers and pay close attention to your questions and comments. Last month Chris Turner stepped into the managing editor’s position, ATPM’s number two chair. Chris views all of our readers as our number one constituency and will be working closely with Michael on each month’s release.

In the Dock

Just like your Mac OS X desktop, each issue of ATPM has its own favorite items in the Dock, ready for easy reading.

This month’s issue includes:

The Candy Apple: Ride ’Em, Cowboy!

In which we investigate why it’s bad to spill drinks on your laptop.

Networks In Action: Learning to Share With Others: Sharing Preferences Overview

This articles covers the Sharing pane in the Mac OS X System Preferences. Mac OS X supports a wide variety of network services, including Windows networking support and an Internet sharing application. Pictures and real-world examples are included.

What’s Under The Hood: Got Vinyl? Converting LPs to CDs—Part 2

In his second installment, Bob Lewis shows you how to transfer your music from vinyl to plastic…and leave the pops and hisses behind.

How To: Making Jaguar Adopt Orphaned Printers (Hopefully)

Having problems getting Jaguar and your printer to get along? You’re not alone. Sylvester Roque tells us about his experiences and the solutions he found along the way.

Cartoon: Cortland

This month, Cortland welcomes Al Gore to the fold and messes around with some older Macs.

Desktop Pictures: Hong Kong

This month’s desktop pictures were submitted by ATPM reader Janet Mobley. Janet is the editor of the North Coast Mac Users Group, and she took these pictures on a trip to Hong Kong and Macau.

Review: DriveTest 1.0

DriveTest claims to show you whether or not your hard drive can cope with your demands. Eric Blair shows you whether or not DriveTest is the right tool for the job.

Review: NetNewsWire 1.0.1

Eric Blair puts NetNewsWire to the test to see if it really can change the way you view the Web.

Review: Photo Mechanic 3

Gregory Tetrault evaluates this image-browsing and information-editing application and compares it to iView MediaPro, which he reviewed last month.

Review: Secrets of the iPod, 2nd Edition (book)

Kirk McElhearn looks at this book that tells you how to get the most out of your iPod, from the software and hardware to third-party accessories and how to use it as a Mac OS X startup disk.

Review: Studio MX

Lee Bennett and Darryl Barney take a look at Macromedia’s new Studio MX—a reduced-cost bundle of their most popular Web site production tools: Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, Freehand, and more.