In my humble opinion

[*]   IMHO: Make 'Vintage' Macs Productive

[*]   IMHO 2: Sharing with other groups.

[*]   IMHO: 12 weeks behind delivery

[*]   IMHO: Copy Protected CDs

[*]   IMHO: Netiquet

[*]   IMHO: Classic Macs - USEFUL or NOT

[*]   IMHO: UGs Backward Compatible

[*]   IMHO: Buying members

[*]   IMHO: Boston MacWorld

[*]   IMHO: Ask not what vendors can do for you
 

IMHO: Make 'Vintage' Macs Productive

Wow, Fred Showker and I seem to be thinking in the same direction. He is presenting a new column called "This Old Mouse" focusing on making your "old" Mac more productive, tips and tricks for making the system easier to use and answers to readers' questions.
I'd like to point out that our members are not all using G4 iMacs. In fact, many are using 040 and earlier machines as well as pre "G" machines. Apple and many of the commercial vendors are not doing much to support those machines as it becomes less financially sound to do so. However those people can still get much out of their machines.
In fact, I was reading recently of someone still using a Powerbook 100. That is a 68030 machine that came without a floppy standard. ($200 external option.)
__ In my view point, user groups should do what they can to support their members that use these "vintage" machines. Help them to get the most out of them. It is still possible to get any machine that will run OS 7.1 onto the Internet. Although the monochrome machines won't show the pages to the best benefit and the user will be limited as to what browser they use. That in turn will limit access to some web sites.
__ Also, nearly everything that can be done on today's machines can be done on older machines. Just not as fast and not with the specific software. So lets help our members use their machines. And help them make the upgrade or purchase decisions.
__
__ The InfoManager invites user groups to use his column in full or in pieces in their newsletter. Or add a link to their web site. He would appreciate word that you are doing so however and if you can, please send a pdf version of the newsletter for his perusal. Or provide him with a link. You can also use that address for feed back.
The address is mailto:InfoManager@user-groups.net

IMHO 2: Sharing with other groups.

It has come to my attention lately, that more and more groups are joining together to help each other do more. I hear of groups that are taking advantage of the MacWorld magazine's special offer on their "OSX" publication by joining together to purchase the 50 copy minimum order. Also about groups that are sharing publicity and information about vendor presentations as well as special offers. The Mac Pack of Dallas (now DMUG) built an extensive video library by renting tapes to at least 3 other user group's members. What are you doing to cooperate instead of compete?
I believe you'll find them at: http://www.dmug.org/

IMHO: 12 weeks behind delivery

There has been a lot of discussion on mailing lists and the "Mac Web" lately about the fact that Apple now seems to be over 12 weeks behind in delivering G4 iMacs. Most of the people seem to think that Apple is just incompetent in projecting how many computers they need. I personally feel that they made their projections and signed contracts for a much larger number of LCD panels than they are actually receiving. Therefore it would appear that they did make the plans, their vendors are just not producing. In the PC world, the price of LCS screens are starting to move back up as the shortages of the industry hit.
__ So far at least, Apple has not past on any increases to its customers. Which is as it should be since they reportedly signed a contract for 1,200,000 of these over a year, those prices should hold steady. Now that lack of flexibility may be part of the problem. After all, parts have to come from somewhere and be paid for at market as well. Thus the inability of the manufacturers to pass on increased costs to Apple may be part of the reason for delay. (Though I am sure no one would admit it.)
__ We need to give Apple some slack on this as it is a much better position to be in than when Steve Jobs returned and there were over a $1 billion in inventory sitting on dealers shelves. That is a cost you can not recover from but must eat. - IMHO
Let me know what you think... http://www.user-groups.net/InfoManager/INFO.html

IMHO: Copy Protected CDs

Recently, Eisner of Disney and other executives of companies that record video and music have hit at the computer industry in general and Apple in particular for "basing their business on theft of intellectual property." (Or words to that effect.) This is part of the effort to get Congress to pass a bill that will charge each of us a fee for each CD-R; audio cassette and devices that use them. This fee in theory would go to the artists to make sure they get paid for the use of their material. In reality, it would probably go to the bottom line of the recording company. This will penalize those of us who have continued to purchase and make legitimate copies for our own personal use. (Which is quite legal.) You should ask your congressman to protect your rights and not increase your entertainment expense. Of course it is possible that such a fee is not Constitutional, but it could take years to prove that in court. Wired has an article on this subject at: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50995,00.html
ZDNet has a story at: http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2854528,00.html

IMHO: Netiquet

I really put my foot in it this week. I forwarded to the Talk mailing list a piece of material from the US Census department that gave some, somewhat interesting statistics concerning Mothers. This was produced for republication to be used to honor Mothers for the Mother's day holiday here in the United States. (May 12th).
__ A person objected to my posting via private mail and I replied to that posting via the mailing list. What I was looking for was to get a discussion going on the differences of opinion on my posting as well as to get a discussion going on spam in general. I should not have placed the person's name in the mailing list and for that I humbly apologize and will take steps not to repeat myself in the future. In the world of Netiquet, I goofed, but in doing so I learned. I hope others do as well.
__ Something else that I found quite surprising was a personal attack made by another member on the person whom I quoted. Personal attacks are never appropriate in any user group forum. This particular forum is meant for constructive discussion about user groups. How to make them better, how to server our members more efficiently, etc. Calling someone "stupid" or "evil" really doesn't do anyone any good. All it does is set off defensive mechanisms including the defense of running away and leaving the discussion. Everyone has constructive ideas.
__ We should keep focused on those ideas, not on namecalling.

Meanwhile, I am planning a column in June dedicated to the issue of spam and would like to hear how you are handling it the growth of that industry. I know that my primary AOL account, (now its 12th year) is 99.9% advertisements now. Not all are spam, as I agree to some advertising to get added to a few mailing lists. Of course, that was before I knew how much was going to be sent my way.
__ So what do you do? Report it to the SPAM COP? To your providers? To the spammer's provider? Thanks

* You can contribute to the User Group Unsolicited Email lobby being developed by the Association of Apple Computer Users & Groups by voicing your "Spam" feedback at AACUG.org's online form.
Just click the link at: http://www.aacug.org/

IMHO: Classic Macs - USEFUL or NOT

John Chrisie has an article on MacWeekly.com called "Classic Macs - USEFUL or NOT?"
Of course, the answer is useful. VERY!

Last weekend, I picked up two PowerMac 5200LCs at a local flea market for $40 total. One was not booting, so I got it for $5. All it needed was to have a System installed. The other cost me $35. Both machines were from local school districts that have upgraded.

I am upgrading the RAM on one to 64 Megs for my sister and her 6 year old to use and the other one I am upgrading to 16 megs. (They came with 12) The second one is to be used as a "game machine" in my brother-in-law's nursing home. I am truly amazed at what these machines are going for. (Just wish G3 prices would come down.)

But this gets me back to my earlier soapbox piece on supporting older machines in user groups. I know that eventually, we won't be able to support "classic" OS machines, just as today very few user groups find it worthwhile to support Apple Iis. But at this point, we should be getting some of those people who are getting flea market and hand-me-down machines. Also that is a great way to inexpensively grow Apple's market share as those people will one day want to upgrade to a system they already know.
mailto:john@macweekly.com
http://www.macweekly.com/retro/040802.html

IMHO: UGs Backward Compatible

The above Pete Rose quote was in an email about user groups handling of the transition to OS X that recently happened on the AUGD mailing list.
      From what I got of the discussion, there are only a few groups that aren't moving on to OSX. We have been through this before. Apple II to Mac; Mac to PowerMac; OS5 to OS6 to OS7 to OS8. So we shouldn't view this as any different. We should continue to support the members for who can't or won't for the time being move on to X. But as a group, we need to continue the move. As one of my teachers once said, every living organism is changing, growing or decaying. This is also true of user groups. I think we all want our groups to continue to grow.
      Comments?
http://www.user-groups.net/InfoManager/INFO.html

IMHO: Buying members

We had an interesting discussion last month on the AUGB mailing list concerning the use of vendor "freebies" to attract a crowd. I think one person (sorry, I didnāt copy the name) summed up my opinion with:
      "Somehow I think its a sad state of affairs if some MUGs are having to survive only by offering their users access to discounts, or software updates. If this is the only incentive that a MUG can offer their users, then the executives of those MUGs could likely reap greater rewards by focusing their energies elsewhere."
      In order to stay relevant and vibrant MUGs have to change with the times. Many groups are doing this (for example by focusing on new technologies like video editing etc), and doing an excellent job at it. Others are not adapting to change, and are trying to maintain a group membership base by relying on things like discounts. This is just slowing the inevitable death of a group.
      "If you are concerned about your MUG, find out what your membership wants. Lobby your members. Survey them for their interest. Tell them of your challenges. If your membership is unable to tell you what they want, but also unwilling to help make THEIR club relevant, then as a user group leader, again, you should question if you cannot enjoy your Macintosh hobby more by focusing your energies elsewhere."
      The primary purpose of a user group is to provide knowledge, not the latest first person shooter. What we do best is provide individual solutions for members. It is nice to have free stuff to give to members, and discounts add value to the membership, but those things shouldn't be the primary purpose of attendance. I really don't want to sit through a boring presentation to get a chance at a t-shirt of even most pieces of software. If your members are coming for the prizes, discounts and free updates, then perhaps you should look at your groups goals. IMHO"

BTW -- since I am talking about free stuff. I would like to thank Microsoft for recognizing that there is still plenty of potential for promotion in user groups for their shipment of coolers and OS X trial versions to our local group. I was beginning to worry that all they were sending out was .NET and Windows material.

IMHO: Boston MacWorld

Perhaps the biggest news to come out this past week, was the news that IDG had signed to take MacWorld Expo back to Boston for 2004-2006, while keeping the July exhibition date. Almost immediately after the announcement was made by the mayor of Boston, Apple sent out a notice to say, that not only were they not going to participate in a Boston MacWorld Expo, they were going to review whether they should participate in New York this year as well.
      On the surface, Apple's announcement was a surprise. IDG hadn't been secretly negotiating. The press in both Boston and New York had written up the negotiations and the web had reported it extensively. So Apple wasn't caught unaware. But why weren't they consulted?
      At the time of the move to NYC, the fact that Boston's facilities were adequate was barely mentioned. A lot was made out of the fact that Steve Jobs was the one who asked for it to suddenly be moved. The theory being, that there would be greater access to media in New York.
      Personally, I find the idea that more media will cover the show in New York than in Boston outlandish. MacWorld Expo always generates a lot of press coverage. The only thing about NYC is that Steve and other Apple reps could appear on the Today show or on Letterman. But they can fly down from Boston to do the same thing. Boston really isn't that far off. And to top it off, with the exception of a financial network show or two, Apple hadn't taken advantage of the network opportunities any way.
      Here is hoping that the continuing negotiations between IDG and Apple pay off quickly. It really wouldn't do either of them any good to have Apple skip even one show. - lcw

IMHO: Ask not what vendors can do for you

Recently in our AUG mailing list, there has been quite a discussion on what Apple is doing to support user groups. Now I can't speak for the time since the recent changing of the guard, but Apple has never supported groups as much as the groups would have liked. There have been times when they did seem to be more responsive. But in my mind, we really shouldn't expect much.
      They have at times treated MUGs as a good thing, but pretty much the support was an after thought. The return on investment isn't immediately obvious. If they were to see a spike in sales immediately after doing a user group event, you bet they would do more events.
      But the fact is their sales don't change much whether they help us or not. MUG leaders need to decide that what they are not doing what they do to benefit Apple. They are doing what they do to benefit their members, who happen to use Apple products. Apple will benefit as well, but that should be our after thought. Apple does spend a nice bit of change putting on User Group University, although I suspect that the sponsors pay for most of the expense.
      Adobe should be the one praised for what they do for MUGs at the show. Although on a local basis, it would be nice if they did more to support smaller groups. But that old ROI raises its head again there too.
      I know that the 200 member MUG in Tulsa turned out 3 times as many people to see an Adobe presentation as the 560 member PC group when I was there. And some of them were actually in the publishing business. (A lot of which goes on in Tulsa.) So lets show the vendors, that MUGs don't need them, but that the groups can do as much for the vendors as they can do for their own members. That way everyone will win.
Let me know what you think! http://www.user-groups.net/InfoManager/INFO.html

pau

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Also see: MUG NEWS bursts from the AACUG Mac User Guide (MUG)

The Info Manager is a veteran of the UGN (AOL User Groups Forum) and User Group Network. He's been a supporter and volunteer on many, many UGNet and User Group Academy projects. As a long time user group member, he's served as volunteer from Honolulu to Boston and many points in between. Currently working with the Apple Corp of Dallas, the Dallas Mac Pack, Cowtown MUG of Ft. Worth and TUMS (the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society) doing newsletter articles and the monthly CD-ROM Update. Post a lead Info Manager should follow up on.

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