Becoming an Observer
In December 1998, Bryan Chaffin and I co-founded The Mac Observer. And now, 23 years later… the site was acquired.
This next step in the site’s evolution is a good one. Dr. Serhat Kurt has long been a fan of The Mac Observer in addition to having some web publishing experience of his own. Dr. Kurt is the Publisher of macReports, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Educational Technology, President of SECK Inc., and a university professor from Chicago. But don’t let all the fancy credentials fool you; during this process I’ve gotten to know Serhat as a really great guy. His interest in acquiring The Mac Observer matches our own goals for the site: to grow The Mac Observer and help this site we love continue to thrive well into the future.
At least in the near term, you won’t see many changes, and the current staff will remain. I will keep the Mac Geek Gab podcast and host it separately, though extracting that from The Mac Observer’s infrastructure will take a bit of time.
While we work on that project over the next couple of months, Serhat and team have graciously offered to continue hosting the show over there. When I have more to share on the completion of that transition, I’ll let y’all know.
The Dave Abides
While my ownership of The Mac Observer has come to a close, I’m still here…and I still get to work with The Mac Observer going forward. BackBeat Media will continue to represent The Mac Observer’s podcast and display sponsorships, among the many other shows and sites we represent. Sure, it’ll be a little weird that TMO isn’t mine to approve anymore, but that’s just part of the evolution!
I Got Caught…The Email Edition
Listeners of Mac Geek Gab have heard me say time and again that it’s well-worth having your own domain name with which to host your email. This practice protects you from needing to inform the world every time you move houses and change ISPs. I’ll let you take a guess as to which domain I chose to attach my — and my family’s — email 23 years ago.
So, yep, I got caught, and will transition all of my email over. You’ll still be able to reach me at my various macobserver.com addresses for at least a couple of years — again, courtesy of Serhat… thank you, my friend! — and I’ll start sending email from a different domain. Perhaps there’s a tweak to be made to my master-of-your-own-domain advice. You’ll have to listen to MGG to find out!
Onward and Upward
It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway; I wouldn’t have done this without getting to know Serhat first and making sure he is one of us – a true Mac fan, very smart, and a critical thinker. We’re officially handing the reins to Serhat over the next few days. The plan is for him to take over management by January 1, so please join me in watching the site next week!
I know Serhat will lead The Mac Observer team to great things going forward, and I am really excited to sit back and watch that all from my new perch … as an Observer!
