By now, you no doubt have read of Macworld/iWorld’s hiatus. My immediate feeling is that my family has been taken from me. I also feel like an era may have come to an end.
‘Hiatus’ ordinarily suggests a return sometime in the future, soon or down-the-road. But as we all know too well, there are no guarantees in life.
I can’t help but reminisce at all the fun.
The reason that I became a ‘fanboy’ to begin with was the comradeship
that I experienced at my first MUG meeting. People of all ages following various paths in life, sharing the same enthusiasm for a single objective: learning to produce amazing creations or simplifying their daily lives through learning how to master the power of a box of circuitry that the majority of us didn’t understand.
We became family. We helped each other. We pushed each other. We relished meeting each other once a month. And then going out for breakfast afterwards. 🙂
From our immediate family, we went on to meet our even larger family, whether we met in Boston, NewYork or San Francisco. It was sort of our annual family picnic. And how we looked forward to it year after year after year.
To me, that feeling made all the difference between using a Mac and any other computer. My extended family was an important part of the experience.
I remember being in the audience in New York when the iBook was unveiled. The wave that broke over the crowd when we finally realized that Steve was walking about the stage untethered and yet still accessing the Internet was unbelievable. Everyone lucky enough to be in the audience at that keynote was fortunate enough to touch one immediately at the keynote’s end, as Apple had deployed employees throughout the crowd with units to try. And we all touched them as if we were touching the Grail itself.
Then the cavalcade moved on to San Francisco. Having made the leap from MUG newsletter writer to writing software reviews for Dennis Sellers and his site, I was fortunate enough to make friends and acquaintances like Chuck Joiner, Ken Ray and a budding upstart by the name of Don McAllister. All of who went on to make names for themselves in the community. And they still carry on.
I had the pleasure of meeting the president of a then unknown company called Rogue Amoeba, Mr. Paul Kafasis. He was kind enough to grant me an interview explaining all of the audio apps that he had in mind to create.
And, without saying, the ever enjoyable ‘Cirque du Mac’ parties. What a family …
Sorry to say that I haven’t been since 2011, owing to financial and health issues. I hope that this hiatus is extremely brief. Seeing my cohorts face-to-face is so much more rewarding than streaming them on my flat screen, no matter how skilled they have all become as producers.
And there is absolutely no way imaginable to put into words the atmosphere at these events. You have to have attended one to know what it is like.
Here’s hoping that the hiatus is as brief as brief can be.
 
©2014 Frank Petrie