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Keeping abreast of the latest developments in any industry is a challenge, but when a company replaces its entire product line every eighteen months, as Apple has done recently, the challenge becomes a near-impossible quest. Adding a constant stream of software updates to the hardware changes further complicates a Mac user's life. One technique I use to keep my knowledge current is to join a community of users who share their experiences and perhaps help out when a new gremlin (or an old one) gnaws on my computer.
Enter another of Apple's most venerable institutions, along with MacWorld publicity stunts and ex-CEOs who just cannot move on: user groups. I attended my first user group as a teenager seeking help to understand the Apple IIc Technical Reference Manual and have been hooked ever since. In the days before gigabytes of technical information was just a click away, user groups were an oasis of help and information. Perhaps no longer isolated oases, they remain vital in the Web Age.
Video conferencing has not replaced business travel, mail order has not replaced bricks-and-mortar retail, and all the Web sites in the world cannot replace the usefulness of occasional face-to-face question and answers. But just as the effects of Amazon can be seen inside any bookstore, Internet growth has affected user groups, too. Some have closed up shop, others have gone online, while others continue to flourish with regular monthly meetings.
CompuServe's MAUG, or Micro-networked Apple User Group, was the first of a new breed of user group that is common today, one where the members meet online. MAUG no longer exists, however every category of information they once supplied is represented online by several different providers. USENET discussion boards, such as those mentioned at the end of this article, Web site forums, tech note databases, software libraries, and over a dozen news related sites deliver a near-endless flood of Mac related information.
However, it was the sushi parties and other informal gatherings at MacWorld that helped cement MAUG member's online relationships. Access to online information is a powerful tool, but it does not completely replace face to face meetings. I am a relative newcomer to my neighborhood, and I live in a semi-rural area of California. After several months of lurking on my local user group's online mail list, I decided to attend in person and thank the nice folks who answered my questions and helped me locate local Mac resources.
The main event of the evening was Adam Engst's presentations about Email, avoiding
spam, and bridging the language gulf between the Mac and Windows worlds. Questions and answers followed, while a dealer showed off a the latest PowerBook and iMac models. The atmosphere was like a mini-MacWorld, with over a hundred Mac lovers discussing their favorite tools. No doubt the massive amount of online info is wonderful, but until refreshments are beamed in over the modem and you can have a real conversation with fellow Mac users, user groups remain essential.
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"User
Groups in the Web Age"
