Notice: The Mac|Life Forums Will Be Shutting Down [UPDATE]
Notice: The Mac|Life Forums Will Be Shutting Down [UPDATE]
Posted 11/13/2010 at 7:55pm
| by Roberto Baldwin
52
Comments
Print I'm sorry to announce that we will be shutting down the MacLife.com forums on Wednesday, November 17.
We wish to thank everyone that participated in the forums over the years and a huge thank you to the moderators that worked tirelessly over the years to make the forums a great place to talk about Apple products.
Thank you for your understanding.
Roberto Baldwin
Online Editor
MacLife.com
UPDATE: First of all, it's just the forums that are shutting down. MacLife.com will still be here and we have some exciting news about the site in the coming week. The magazine is also still going strong. There should be no concern about those two entities. I apologize if I have caused any confusion.
Secondly, the reason we are shutting down the forums is simple, resources. As the site and magazine grow--and both continue to grow despite the rough economic climate--the staff responsible for the site are tasked with new responsibilities. There responsibilities are part of an effort to push forward with features on the site that will benefit the readers. We want you to have the best site possible.
Unfortunately, as we push forward we have to take a hard look at what we're offering now. Instead of trying to do everything at once, it's better to focus on what we are doing well and remove focus on what has been in decline for years. The forums are a victim of this.
I hope this clears up some of your questions.
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Mac007
April 18, 2012 at 1:30pm
Rather than bemoan the loss of the forums, which is sad indeed at least to some folks, I remind you that there are plenty of other options one of them being the MacWorld forums. They are still up and running and the last time I was there they had no censoring software. ;-)
malber
April 28, 2011 at 7:26am
I registered for the MacAddict forums in it's first year. As a subscriber I think I started at issue #3. I even still have some of the old CD-ROMs floating around as drink coasters. As my enthusiasm for the Mac platform and Apple has waned as my Mac slowly aged into obselesence and Apple has become more and more callous toward's it's devotees, so has my involvement in the forums. But that is not to say my feelings are shared by the Mac faithful. I feel the terse note that leads this announcement to be extremely insensitive to the community that has helped bring MacLuv, er MacLife to it's recent success. The secondary update does little to improve on the first, if only to seem more disingenuous. If re-gurgitating what other tech press publishes about Apple and Apple products and alienating your core community is what you do best, then the site is sure to see the same kind of decline.
shalala
January 18, 2011 at 7:00pm
I kind of miss Spoofi, ihateyou and digiJ.
Either way, the old crowd is reassembling at macstack.net
Supremo Lagarto
December 14, 2010 at 8:30am
"It's like we're being told that we have been sentenced to death, and we are not being given any chance to save ourselves."
ROFL
Supremo Lagarto
December 14, 2010 at 8:28am
Ha ha ha ha.
The people that used those forums were the biggest bunch of idiots.
They made Apple look stupid.
Good riddance.
lukelucas
November 20, 2010 at 4:16pm
genuinely, somehow, for the first time in almost 10 years, i haven't visited the forums since Wednesday. i have no idea how i missed the announcement. so when i clicked my "AA" bookmark (for Anything Apple), it was dead. then Unplugged. dead.
i scrambled.
and then i found the news.
i'm genuinely not one to get upset over something like this, but i am really, really sad right now. i've stuck mainly to Unplugged the last few years and considered it a home-like space, but online. i joined shortly after i purchased my first Mac (an iBook, in 2002 i believe) and quickly fell in love with the community at the MAF.
i'll get over it in a couple of days, but right now, i'm devastated. cheers, friends. MAF, you lived a long and good life. it's a damn shame you've been put out to pasture.
i am sad.
pottymouth
November 20, 2010 at 7:02pm
When I found MAF I was rolling on a 350MHz (OC'd to 400MHz) B&W G3 maxed out with a whopping 1GB of memory. How times have changed!
chris
November 19, 2010 at 12:53pm
A quick note about the block on the front page, the list contains articles from the last week with the most comments.
nymacman
November 19, 2010 at 12:12pm
I am sure they will eventually delete this regardless of how often it is commented on.
mrreet2001
November 19, 2010 at 7:27am
And like that... You took the last 10+ years away from so many people.
It's OK, because this article has the most comments placing it on the front page. Funny how this in the most useful / interesting article on here.
TheConfuzed1
November 18, 2010 at 12:15pm
This was my response in the forum. I'll repeat it here:
There was a day that I could be found at MAF at any given time.
I used to tell people that if they had a message to get to me, they should send me a PM through MAF, rather than email!
Over time, it became a home to me.
Then MAF got changed into MacLife, and things immediately went downhill.
I haven't been an active poster for a while, but I could easily see myself jumping back in, if only we could get those days back.
I know we can't though, and that saddens me.
I've been here for over ten years, and I feel like it is a part of me.
The spinoff forums are nice, but not the same.
I'm registered at each of them though, so I'll see you guys around.
Please don't delete the archive. If you can't or won't surrender it to a group of responsible users, then please keep it safe.
It's like we're being told that we have been sentenced to death, and we are not being given any chance to save ourselves.
Yes, the forum is out of control right now, as a direct result of this announcement.
The anarchy that you currently can witness is a protest of those who would choose to live.
It's inexcusable, but understandable.
The zombie threads that have become active are not the most recent posts, but that isn't because we don't have recent threads.
It's because they have been revived. It's the life of MAF flashing before our eyes. And that's what it is--MAF. MacAddict Forums.
That is the proper name for the place, and I am proud to have been a part of it.
I appreciate the time that I had with this group, and I hope to keep in touch through various other means.
I will miss this place sincerely.
Supremo Lagarto
December 14, 2010 at 8:38am
"It's like we're being told that we have been sentenced to death, and we are not being given any chance to save ourselves."
"Please don't delete the archive."
"The anarchy that you currently can witness is a protest of those who would choose to live."
It is no wonder they are getting rid of this trash.
TheConfuzed1
November 18, 2010 at 11:37am
How about surrendering the forum and MacAddict.com to someone else?
I'm sure between us we can manage to take care of it.
cannedbrain
November 18, 2010 at 4:53am
I'm also a long time forum goer (by my other nickname). I registered in 2001 and started being active in 2002. Before I settled with MacAddict Forums, I'd browsed and participated in many other forums, including Apple's discussion boards. But I found MacAddict Forums community was the best. It's made of helpful, smart, witty and friendly people. Even until about a week ago, I still read some new tricks on the board and chuckled at some posts.
Oh well… Thanks for the great times. See ya'll at the other forums!
pottymouth
November 16, 2010 at 11:19pm
I'm with you Happypants. This was also my introduction to Mac culture. My first nick was registered almost 11(!) years ago, and in that time I've never come across another forum with so many smart, witty, and friendly people...except of course the spinoff forums, which are still going strong and chock full of these same great folks. They will only get stronger.
I am disappointed in the administration, but not the least bit surprised. The forums have been almost entirely ignored by The Man these last few years and activity has been on a steady decline. Just look at the posts in this discussion; the forums were probably the strongest resource (for news and help) on this entire site and the link was moved from a prominent main navbar link in the old site design to a smaller sub-link stuck at the end of a list of unrelated stuff. Moderators' repeated requests for simple Spam-fighting tools went ignored, and abusive posters continued to abuse because there was nothing we could do about it. Go ahead and call that a lack of resources, but it sure seems a lot more like a total lack of give-a-darn.
Enough of the anger. It's just a stupid Internet forum. There's thousands more out there. But for me it was the MacAddict forums that actually made me a Mac Addict. I was proud to say so and I still am. I'm proud to have been a part of it. I'm proud to still be here. I'm glad I could help when I could. I'm happy to have met all of you.
So long, and TFATF.
LLEVIATHANN
November 18, 2010 at 5:21pm
It is on the front page listed as one of the most active articles.
Mr. Happypants
November 15, 2010 at 7:13pm
Cya at all the Other Forum i s'pose. It seems pathetic to cite "resources" when you have all you need in the current Moderators & Admin, all they require are some simple tools to keep the Forums spam-free. It may not have the insane amount of traffic it once did, but judging from some of the comments here, most subscribers and vistors to the main site never knew it existed.
Hell, I just noticed I joined 10 years ago almost to the day. Met some great (and, not so great) people here and I hope they stay in touch via MacStack because THAT is what makes a great community, not the blessing of some corporate entity and its' bean counters who decide it has become less "viable" to maintain.
If anybody is still around from the MacAddict days, thanks for everything. This was my first exposure to genuine Mac culture and I don't know that anything else will come close.
LLEVIATHANN
November 15, 2010 at 2:11pm
The reason is bs. Period. I subscribe to other Future owned mags (MaxPC & OXM, in addition to ML). Those sister mags manage just fine and have thriving forums. So what's your excuse again?
nymacman
November 15, 2010 at 8:59am
I am sorry to announce that because of MY dwindling resources I will no longer be able to purchase your magazine nor support your advertisers.
Thank you for your understanding.
sturner
November 15, 2010 at 6:12am
The owners of the site wouldn't make the necessary changes to the software or give the administrator the rights to deal with banning spammers by IP address. The owners of the site allowed the site to die by their own neglect. The Admin and moderators were being overwhelmed by spam, and repeatedly requested assistance which was never answered. Roberto tried, but he hasn't the pull to get the IT people to do what was necessary. Instead they have let it wither. They wouldn't even put captcha in for unregistered posts and as a requirement to post.
Also, they need to pull the plug now. It's very embarrassing to have a forum site that has nothing but AAAAAAAA for ALL of its posts.
blackzarg
November 15, 2010 at 12:53am
Shame. I was a big forum-goer about 3-4 years ago. I still browse it on occasion for help articles, so I will miss it!
sturner
November 14, 2010 at 6:03pm
If the magazine is doing so well, it would be expanding, not contracting services.
It's really too bad that the resources aren't there in the magazine to support the forums. Well, if the magazine were really attracting business there would be more resources at the magazine.
Sorry to hear that Mac Life is experiencing so much problems, and I hope you guys will find jobs soon.
Roberto Baldwin
November 14, 2010 at 10:20pm
I apologize if you're confused by my post. The forums are shutting down because they are in decline while the rest of the site is thriving.
At some point you have to make the decision to move forward with new features while eliminating others.
sportmac
November 14, 2010 at 7:06pm
forums are being taken over by spammers (and comments as well). look at the dates, the forums haven't been used, probably because of the a$$hole spammers.
i doubt it has anything to do with the magazine doing or not doing well. i would guess (unlike your guesses which you treat as facts) it's more the spammers than anything else.
until they say something, we'll never know.
dbqfan
November 14, 2010 at 10:01am
I will be real honest - I did not know there was a forum. Maybe you should have let us know about it. I have been on this site for a long time and I have a MacLife subscription but I did not know about the forums......
ggarthe
November 14, 2010 at 9:39am
I'm pretty sure the last time I posted in the forums MacLife was still call MacAddict.
purplemaizenjm
November 14, 2010 at 6:03am
what am going to read now.... MacLife was in my family for many years.. and when I upgraded I got my subscription online to understand, and help others like me better to help understand their snow leopards. Oh poopers!!!!
This is going to be horrible. I will have to make the announcement today and let everyone know... sorry to here about your loss. good luck!!
matthew12
November 14, 2010 at 9:47am
The comments on the bottom will still work, but the forums themselves will shut down.
MacAddict4Life
November 14, 2010 at 4:00am
Do not assert that you are sorry as you chose to take a voluntary course of action. If you were sorry this is happening, you would be shutting down the forums. You made a decision; don't hide from it, stand by it.
the_saltminer
November 14, 2010 at 11:43am
He's sorry he had to make the announcement. He didn't say he was sorry to be closing the forums. Probably because of idiots like you who make dumb comments about the staff.
Nobody goes to the forums anyway.
GaryKPDX
November 13, 2010 at 9:29pm
I was all ready to be concerned and then realized that I had not visited the forums in over a year. So I dropped by to have a look. The most recent active thread is about spammers and the latest non-sticky post is from October. There's your explanation, folks. Don't blame 'em. Mac|Life rocks!
lukeforester1
November 13, 2010 at 9:10pm
WHAT, no!!!!! nononono!!!!! Why is this happening!!!!!! Mac|Life, not to be rude, but you owe us an explanation!!!!!! PLEASE DDDDD''':
prell
November 13, 2010 at 8:50pm
Please just give us a reason as it was not expectable at all... i was catch
Supremo Lagarto
December 14, 2010 at 8:50am
Reasons:
1. Waste of bandwidth.
2. Waste of server space.
3. No profit.
4. It was an outlet for mentally disturbed losers.
pslsail22
November 13, 2010 at 8:35pm
That is just the form you guys are still going to have the news and podcast right?
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