What does a great Mac blog look like?

[phanboyjohn]

Hey MacRumors folks!

I currently run a blog at techsumer.net, but I'm switching over to make my blog macsumer.com, and focus on Apple and Mac issues, and I want to do so in a way that's demanded and desired by us, the Mac community.

What I'm asking is this: what do you want/need from an Apple/Mac blog? Are your Apple/Mac blog needs satisfied? Are there certain topics you'd like to see covered, certain angles you feel aren't discussed enough?

I figure there's no better way to serve the community than by finding out their needs directly. Anyway, chime in with your thoughts--I'm interested to see what your opinions are!

(PS--My tentative thought with Macsumer is to provide a user's eye view of Apple and the Mac computer, offering punditry and reviews, but always with a mind towards the user experience and individual users/consumers, hence Macsumer)

 

[Kelly West]

personaly i think you should talk to me, because if you want to focus on applications i have a custom wordpress skin which could suite your needs, and if you want news i also have another custom wordpress skin.. what about a link exchange via each others blogs ?

contact me on msn (service@hostblue.co.uk) I would love to chat with you

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

I'm sorry, phanboyjohn, I really feel that this market is supersaturated. Unless you can come up with some unique angle (no rumors, no product reviews) or have inside information, I really can't think of anything that I need, but am not getting. I regularly visit three mac sites- here, TUAW, and Macworld- and I don't come close to reading everything published at these three.

Maybe if you targeted one subset of the Mac population? For instance, designers, or business customers, or audio pros. That wouldn't go very well with your domain name, though.

 

[live4ever]

You should be very focused on one aspect/tool/application. Check out Hawk Wings for a blog on everything Mail.app.

 

[mkrishnan]

I kind of agree with tobefirst... TUAW is a great example of a "great Mac blog." It's not so much whether it offers things in the categories you mention (they're all fine, except for commentary, which usually, in the world of bloggers, means five minutes of my life I'll never get back! ). It's not the categories but the quality of the material. I'll even read good commentary, if any bloggers knew how to do it. But in terms of quality, not just an endless list of applications you use, but a detailed look at an application that is not well known that does something really useful and interesting. Not just a quick tip (macosxhints is the master of this), but a discussion of how learning that tip teaches you something about OS X architecture, for instance.

Quality writing. That's the first and last thing.

 

[shecky]

i actually think TUAW is a great example of how bloggers are not reporters or writers. look at erica sadun's and dave chartier's posts - total drivel. i do read TUAW but i glaze over the headlines and find the original links to whatever is interesting.

the issue with blogging is that any idiot can do it, and that makes a lot of blogs by a lot of idiots.

 

[phanboyjohn]

Thanks for all this input, and I hope we get a lot more replies! I really appreciate the candid opinions of MR users.

One of the reasons I posted is because I realize, as you mention tobefirst, that the Mac blogging area is supersaturated, and I don't want to be just another blog that doesn't contribute anything unique, so I'm hoping to target needs of MR users.

If you feel like your blog/site needs are satisfied, that's the kind of feedback I'd like as well.

Again, thanks for the feedback so far (amen to quality writing, btw), and I look forward to more!

 

[twoodcc]

how about tutorials on how to do certain things. cool downloads. reviews, and other stuff that you've already mentioned

 

[killmoms]

The only Mac blog I read is John Gruber's "Daring Fireball." It's the only one you need, honestly.