Poll: Do you belong to a Mac Users Group?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Do you belong to a Mac Users Group? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=282)

[Nermal]

That depends whether MR is considered a user group :)

[pivo6]

There is not one in my area, but my father belongs to the one that meets at the Rolling Meadows, IL Holiday Inn. Ican't remember their name.

[SilentPanda]

Originally posted by Nermal
That depends whether MR is considered a user group :)

It's sorta the exact opposite of AA. So it is a user group... just not a healthy one. :D

[Powerbook G5]

I don't think there is one around here, nor would I know how to find one.

[macFanDave]

I belong to the Houston Area Apple Users Group and we hosted Steve Wozniak last weekend. It was great to meet him and there were two things he said that were quite unexpected.

First, he doesn't like OS X and says it was "unnecessary" and that the switch was due to Jobs' loyalty to the shareholders of NeXT. He didn't elaborate on what he didn't like about X, but interestingly seemed to think a crash frequency of OS 9 of once every week or two was acceptable. As an OS X fan, my acceptance level of system crashes is ZERO. I pretty much get that and get steamed at my occassional application crash, but I feel better when I realize the system is still OK.

The second thing that surprised me is how much he likes .Mac. I've had it for the past year and planned to renew even before I heard him speak, because I think it's kind of cool, but certainly not mind-blowing. He just thought it was great that in iPhoto, you can make a web site of a group of photos with one click. Sure, I've used that several times and found it to be convenient, but if it were, say, $150/yr., I'd use some less convenient method. Most likely he's privy to more of the future plans for .Mac than I am, so maybe his reasons for liking it as much as he does will become obvious at a later date.

I asked him about AppleScript and, while not answering the question I put to him directly, he said he liked Revolution. You HyperCard people ought to make a note of that.

[shadowfax]

why would wozniak be more privy to the rumor scene than you? he doesn't work at apple or anything...

[filmamigo]

Funny, I've been thinking about joining a MUG for a few months now. I answered no, but have user group(s) in the area.

I belonged to a Commodore UG for years when I was a kid, and my (positive) experience with the Mac community since Switching in January reminds me of those days....

Is it just my perception, or does the Mac attract a lot more "enthusiasts" (not fanatics) who do things like join user groups, develop shareware, and talk computer-politics?

[Toppa G's]

We just started a new user group on our campus this last year. Stout Mac User Group (SMUG)...I'd do some plugging for the group here by linking to the web site, but our web host decided he wanted to beta test Panther on the machine that our site was hosted on, and subsequently removed the site.

We don't have too many fanatics in our group. Mostly people with a casual interest in things Apple related.

[baby duck monge]

yes. they just restarted the MUG at my school. so far it seems like good stuff.

[macFanDave]

Originally posted by shadowfax
why would wozniak be more privy to the rumor scene than you? he doesn't work at apple or anything...

He said he talks to Jobs regularly and, if I am not mistaken, he is still officially an Apple employee. Plus, he probably is close to many of the other employees.

That's why I think that!

[Chealion]

Not part of an actual physical User Group in my city, but am part of a nation wide User Group called ehMac. (Canadian Macs, get it? We always supposedly say eh and such.)

[wdlove]

Voted no, but there is one in my area.

BMac, Boston's Macintosh User Group. It meets at the MIT Campus in Cambridge the second Wednesday each month at 7pm. I keep saying that I'm going to attend.

[Sonofhaig]

I've gone to a local group meeting and it bored the "P" out of me.
I personally don't have the patients to sit through stupid questions.
I'm sure I should have given it a chance....

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Sonofhaig
I've gone to a local group meeting and it bored the "P" out of me.
I personally don't have the patients to sit through stupid questions.
I'm sure I should have given it a chance....

Just remember that there are no stupid questions, but stupid answers. My level of knowledge probably would not cause me to be board! You can always learn something new!

[Awimoway]

Originally posted by Sonofhaig
I have no patients for it

I'm not sure what kind of patient you would send, anyway. Maybe sufferers of Overstimulation Syndrome?

:D

[iLilana]

since the old user group in central alberta is inactive I am now starting a new one.

for central Alberta Canada ( red deer, lacombe, ponoka, wetaskewin, millet, camrose, hobema )

if you want to be a part of it you can contact me at crazyauntie@macmail.com

Start from scratch..

when we get sufficient members we can vote on a name.

Lily

[Doctor Q]

I've been to one meeting of the Los Angeles Macintosh Group (http://www.lamg.org/) (LAMG), but I find I can network or find information more efficiently online. And no gasoline required!

Maybe every Apple Store should have a monthly "Mac fan club" meeting that the store hosts but does not run. Come in, talk, hang out.

[gopher]

I am an active member of the Washington Apple Pi (http://www.wap.org/) which every Tuesday night helps Mac users solve their problems that the warranty couldn't solve. While none of the gurus at the clinic they run are Apple authorized, there is a lot one can learn about maintaining your Mac and keeping it in good working order. They offer many classes to help you understand products Mac users use most often. Every month they hold a monthly meeting which frequently attracts 500 or more people to see the latest news about the Mac platform. It is mainly run by volunteers and is the oldest Mac users group in the country. Every two months a magazine gets published to members, and they have a bulletin board, webmail, and dialup internet for members to join. A great service for both the computer confounded and the computer experts.

[MrMacMan]

Long Island Mac...

I belong, but rarily go...

Like all of the people are like 60+...

:eek:


I have no idea why!


Sometimes they have good stuff, but not really most of the time.

[Freg3000]

I don't. The internet fulfills all my needs. :)

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by Doctor Q
I've been to one meeting of the Los Angeles Macintosh Group (http://www.lamg.org/) (LAMG), but I find I can network or find information more efficiently online. And no gasoline required!

Maybe every Apple Store should have a monthly "Mac fan club" meeting that the store hosts but does not run. Come in, talk, hang out.

It's just a good thing that they're a group and not enthusiasts. :D

I've never belonged to a Macintosh group, but I used to belong to an Atari group way back when. I've also been to group meetings for larger computers, but it all seems boring and schmoozy.

[wdlove]

Here is the website for the Boston Area Mac Group!

http://bmac.org/index.html

[Sonofhaig]

Originally posted by MrMacman
Long Island Mac...

I belong, but rarily go...

Like all of the people are like 60+...
:eek:
I have no idea why!
Sometimes they have good stuff, but not really most of the time.

This was the group that I went to. Those 60 year olds had some really stupid questions.... Like I said, no patience. (Spelling correct this time.. wiseguys)

[bcsimac]

I recently joined the Memphis AppleCore user group. We have a mixture of ages although I am definitely the youngest at 27. Most are in their upper thirties and mid fourties. Some are retired. There was one week where one of the members brought his daughter in who just graduated from high school and so I didn't feel so young anymore LOL! Each meeting we get the newest Mac Directory magazine, newest usergroup newsletter, our name badge, and a ticket (for winning a prize....they have three or four drawings for small things like t-shirts, mice, games, or some other apple/mac related thing.) You can buy the "Kitchen Sink" CD for like $20. Last meeting we had an "Genius" from the Germantown Apple Store show us iSight, iChat AV, Safari, and Mac OS X Server. Unfortunately, I knew some things that this "Genius" didn't know like the knowledge base article that says iChatAV does not work with DV Camcorders on any G3 based Mac, but that iSight will work with any mac with a 600Hhz G3 or higher and firewire such as a iBook with a 600Mhz G3. The T-shirts cost $10 by the way. After the meeting, we go to Perkins and have something to eat and drink and talk a lot. I got to talk to a teacher who worked in the planetarium about Mars and it was a pretty cool conversation. We also talked about my wedding and honeymoon....not bad! All and all this group is pretty cool.

[bcsimac]

Usergroups are easy to find. Go to www.apple.com/usergroups and there will be a button that says find a user group near you. Click on that and tell them the state and city you are in. It will list the usergroups near your area...I think it also lists the distance in miles from where you give them your address. That is how I found Birmingham AppleCore when I was in Birmingham, Erie Apple Crunchers when I was back home in PA, and Memphis AppleCore when I moved here to Covington, TN.

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I don't think there is one around here, nor would I know how to find one.

[wdlove]

Originally posted by bcsimac
I recently joined the Memphis AppleCore user group. We have a mixture of ages although I am definitely the youngest at 27. Most are in their upper thirties and mid fourties. Some are retired. There was one week where one of the members brought his daughter in who just graduated from high school and so I didn't feel so young anymore LOL! Each meeting we get the newest Mac Directory magazine, newest usergroup newsletter, our name badge, and a ticket (for winning a prize....they have three or four drawings for small things like t-shirts, mice, games, or some other apple/mac related thing.) You can buy the "Kitchen Sink" CD for like $20. Last meeting we had an "Genius" from the Germantown Apple Store show us iSight, iChat AV, Safari, and Mac OS X Server. Unfortunately, I knew some things that this "Genius" didn't know like the knowledge base article that says iChatAV does not work with DV Camcorders on any G3 based Mac, but that iSight will work with any mac with a 600Hhz G3 or higher and firewire such as a iBook with a 600Mhz G3. The T-shirts cost $10 by the way. After the meeting, we go to Perkins and have something to eat and drink and talk a lot. I got to talk to a teacher who worked in the planetarium about Mars and it was a pretty cool conversation. We also talked about my wedding and honeymoon....not bad! All and all this group is pretty cool.

Thank you on the report about your user group, bcsimac. It is definitely causing me to be more interested in attending my own group!