MacTalk Australia

Infobox Website
name = MacTalk Australia



caption = MacTalk Forum Main Page
url = http://www.mactalk.com.au/
type = Apple discussion forum
registration = Free
owner = MacTalk Australia Pty Ltd
author = Matt Kelsh & Anthony Agius
launch date = 1 January 2004
current version = 3.0

MacTalk Australia, formerly AppleTalk Australia, is a forum dedicated to discussion among Apple product users or potential users, with an Australian slant.

History

AppleTalk Australia was started on 1 January 2004 after two users of Overclockers Australia, Matt " [http://drivel.disko.ath.cx/ Disko] " Kelsh and Anthony " [http://blog.heyinternet.com decryption] " Agius banded together to create an Apple forum for Australian users. The name MacTalk was a pun on Apple's own networking product, AppleTalk. The original intent of the site was a small forum with a target user base of around 70 members [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=2884] however the site completely exceeded this expectations, growing exponentially, resulting in a current user base of 17,175 as of September 2008. Pre-MacTalk magazine, the site ran entirely through voluntary effort and donations (of items for review and hosting, as well as money).

Controversy

The sites founder, Anthony "decryption" Agius, published claims that Apple had briefed resellers on the Australian iPhone release [cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23516349-5014239,00.html|title=Stream of iPhone rumours causing iFatigue|publisher=news.com.au|date=2008-04-10] [cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/09/rumors-rumble-about-unlocked-3g-iphones-headed-to-australia|title=Rumors rumble about unlocked 3G iPhones headed to Australia|date=2008-04-09] [cite web|url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17578/1103/|title=Australia to get world’s first truly unlocked 3G iPhone?|publisher=iTWire|date=2008-04-09] and later posted pictures of a box that had been sent to a local reseller, labelled "Do Not Open Until 10 June". [cite web|url=http://forums.mactalk.com.au/19/50612-whats-box-3g-iphone-lands-down-under.html|title=What's in the Box? The 3G iPhone Lands Down Under|publisher=MacTalk Australia|date=2008-06-06] [cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,23834472-5006301,00.html|title=3G iPhone may already be in Australia|publisher=Adelaide Now|date=2008-06-09] [cite web|url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18650/1103/|title=Mystery box lands in Australian Apple stores – with 3G iPhone inside?|publisher=iTWire|date=2008-06-07]

Awards

From July 2004 to June 2005 AppleTalk Australia was ranked #9 in the Hitwise Australia 'News and Media — IT Media' industry based on number of visits. [cite web|url=http://www.hitwise.com.au/awards/popup.html?sDomain=www.appletalk.com.au&iDate=2005&iCatnum=341&Cal=|title=Hitwise Top 10 Online Performance Award 2005|publisher=Hitwise]
From October to December, 2005, AppleTalk Australia was ranked #8 in the Hitwise Australia 'News and Media — IT Media' industry based on number of visits. [cite web|url=http://www.hitwise.com.au/awards/popup.html?sDomain=www.appletalk.com.au&iDate=200504&iCatnum=341&Cal=|title=Hitwise Top 10 Online Performance Award April|publisher=Hitwise] .

Domain and Name

The site was originally registered at appletalk.ma.cx but was switched to appletalkaustralia.com on 8 January 2004 [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=22] with the old URL being phased out soon after. [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=30] After the (previous) owners of a well known Apple online reseller in Australia, ePowerMac, agreed to sponsor a .com.au domain purchase, the site moved to appletalk.com.au. In late 2006, to avoid any potential future trademark issues with the intended commercial release of a magazine, the site was renamed "MacTalk Australia".

Forum

MacTalk's forums run on VBulletin and VBAdvanced. [cite web|url=http://forums.mactalk.com.au|title=MacTalk Australia Forums|publisher=MacTalk Australia]

Forum Software

The forum originally ran on Invision Power Board 1.3 with a highly customised skin, created by "the_argon". Due to the heavy customisation, an upgrade of the software was fraught with great difficulty and indefinitely put off, but in April 2006 was rebuilt around Invision Power Board version 2.1.4 after the site was hacked. However, due to changes in IPB updates breaking the customised skin, the board was not updated and as a result was hacked once again in October 2006. Rather than rebuild around IPB again, the admins decided to rebuild the skin around vBulletin, this time not using a wrapper, but entirely using the theme engine built in. The adapted skin was built by "iSlayer" over a week long period while the forums were down. The old database was migrated and the site brought up again. As of August 2008, the front page, generated using VBAdvanced, was designed by Jesse "GraphicDZNR" Dodds.

MacTalk Members Unite

In late Argust site founder Anthony "decryption" Agius, Put out the call to raise $3,500 for a new server. In four days MacTalk members rased $5,800. A thank you thread [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/11/57272-decryption-loves-you-all-thanks-mactalk.html] was made shortly after by Anthony thanking all for there help.

Media Mentions

26 April 2005 - Discussion of the iTunes Music Store in Australia mentioned in The Age. [cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/iTunes-music-store-set-to-open/2005/04/26/1114462030033.html|title=iTunes music store set to open|publisher=The Age|date=2005-04-26]
27 April 2005 - Forum members discovery of a loophole in the iTunes Music Store reported in The Sydney Morning Herald. [cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Music/The-notsosecret-iTune-secret/2005/04/27/1114462092704.html|title=The not-so-secret iTune secret|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2005-04-27]
7 March 2007 - A user discovers that the latest version of iTunes mentions TV ratings for Australia, suggesting Apple may be planning to release TV shows through the Australian iTunes Music Store. [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?p=266118] The discovery is reported in The Age newspaper. [cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/itunes-primed-for-local-tv-downloads/2007/03/07/1173166755004.html|title=iTunes Primed for Local TV Downloads|publisher=The Age|date=2007-03-07]

Most Popular articles

An [http://forums.mactalk.com.au/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=20&page=1&pp=50&sort=views&order=desc&daysprune=-1 up-to-date list] of the most popular articles can be found on the site.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=28926 MacBook Inferno] with approx. 132,000 views.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=32660 Do you need to defrag your Mac HD? The answer revealed!] with approx. 76,000 views.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=4153 iTMS Australia - is it still coming?] with approx. 73,000 views. This thread ran from February to October 2005.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=32490 How-To: The ultimate iTunes Media Server] with approx. 55,000 views.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=33386 Refurbished Macs - Bargain or Hell in Shiny White Box?] with approx. 42,500 views.
[http://forums.mactalk.com.au/showthread.php?t=29052 Diary of a MacBook Nightmare] with approx. 32,000 views.

Podcasts

On 8 September 2007, Anthony "decryption" Agius released the first MacTalk podcast, "I Only Bought it Because It's New" consisting of himself, Jedda "jedda" Wignall, Peter "fulltimecasual" Wells and Marc "marc" Edwards of [http://islayer.com iSlayer] fame. The concept of the podcasts has been a group of guys sitting around drinking beer and talking about current Mac topics. As of September 2008, there are over 44 [cite web|url=http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263834203&s=143460|title=MacTalk Podcast|publisher=MacTalk Australia] , each approximately an hour long, available for free through the iTunes Store.

Hosting

MacTalk is currently hosted in Canberra, Australia, by Infinite Networks, who pay for the hosting and bandwidth.

MacTalk Magazine

A single issue of MacTalk Magazine was produced, available for free in print and as a PDF. [cite web|url=http://mactalk.com.au/mactalk_01.pdf|title=MacTalk Magazine|publisher=MacTalk Australia]

References