MacTalk Australia

MacTalk Australia
Type of site
 Apple discussion forum
Owner Niche Media
Created by Matt Kelsh & Anthony Agius
Website http://www.mactalk.com.au/
Registration Free
Launched 1 January 2004

MacTalk Australia, is an online forum dedicated to news, support & discussion amongst Apple product users or potential users, with an Australian bias. In 2011 Niche Media purchased the Online Apple Community Forum which formed the new Consumer Tech Division under Niche Media.

History

Origins

AppleTalk Australia was founded on 1 January 2004 after two users of Overclockers Australia, Matt "Disko" Kelsh and Anthony "decryption" Agius banded together to create an online forum for Australian Apple users. The name was borrowed from Apple's own networking product, AppleTalk. The site was initially run through voluntary labour and donations, before turning to a commercial venture, with advertising assisting in the running costs of the site.

Name Change

In 2006 AppleTalk was rebranded MacTalk Australia. Whilst the site had flown under Apple Inc's radar, using its trademarked name "AppleTalk", a disgruntled forum member reportedly alerted Apple to the forum's existence, leading to Apple's renowned legal team contacting Agius. As the forum was moving towards becoming a commercial venture, it was time to rebadge itself as MacTalk Australia.


Controversy

Agius published claims that Apple had briefed resellers on the Australian iPhone release[1][2][3] and later posted pictures of a box that had been sent to a local reseller, labelled "Do Not Open Until 10 June".[4][5][6]

Awards

From July 2004 to June 2005 AppleTalk Australia was ranked #19 in the Hitwise Australia 'News and Media — IT Media' industry based on number of visits, improving to #8 between October and December 2005.[7][8]

Domain and Name

The site was originally registered at appletalk.ma.cx but was switched to appletalkaustralia.com on 8 January 2004. In late 2006, to avoid any further trademark issues the site was renamed "MacTalk Australia".

Founder's Exit

In February 2011, Agius put the site up for sale on website auction site Flippa.com. In an interview, he said that "after such a significant financial and personal investment I'm walking away with a significant redundancy package".

In June 2011 Agius sold MacTalk to Niche Media, publishers of Macworld Australia magazine. MacTalk's current publisher is Liana Pappas.

Forum

MacTalk's forums run on VBulletin and VBAdvanced.[9]

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 October 2010, the front page, generated using Wordpress, was designed by a third party.

MacTalk Members Unite

In late August 2008 site founder Anthony "decryption" Agius put out the call to raise $8,500 for a new server. In four days, MacTalk members raised $5,800. A thank you thread was made shortly after by Anthony, thanking all for their help.

Media Mentions

26 April 2005 - Discussion of the iTunes Music Store in Australia mentioned.

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 Store. The discovery is reported in The Age newspaper.[10]

An up-to-date list of the most popular articles can be found on the site.

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 Bjango fame. The concept of the podcasts has been a group of guys sitting around drinking beer and talking about current Mac topics. As of June 2013, there are over 255,[11] each approximately an hour long, available for free through the iTunes Store. The 13th of November 2009 marked the recording of the 100th episode of MacTalk, "Live from the Birmingham Hotel", and on the 20th of March 2012, the 200th episode was recorded. The podcast's 215th Episode references the second sentence of this Wikipedia entry.

Hosting

MacTalk is currently hosted in Melbourne, Australia, by Intervolve.

MacTalk Magazine

A single issue of MacTalk Magazine was produced, available for free in print and as a PDF.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Stream of iPhone rumours causing iFatigue". news.com.au. 2008-04-10.
  2. ↑ "Rumors rumble about unlocked 3G iPhones headed to Australia". 2008-04-09.
  3. ↑ "Australia to get world's first truly unlocked 3G iPhone?". iTWire. 2008-04-09.
  4. ↑ "What's in the Box? The 3G iPhone Lands Down Under". MacTalk Australia. 2008-06-06.
  5. ↑ "3G iPhone may already be in Australia". Adelaide Now. 2008-06-09.
  6. ↑ "Mystery box lands in Australian Apple stores – with 3G iPhone inside?". iTWire. 2008-06-07.
  7. ↑ "Hitwise Top 10 Online Performance Award 2005". Hitwise.
  8. ↑ "Hitwise Top 10 Online Performance Award April". Hitwise.
  9. ↑ "MacTalk Australia Forums". MacTalk Australia.
  10. ↑ "iTunes Primed for Local TV Downloads". The Age. 2007-03-07.
  11. ↑ "MacTalk Podcast".
  12. ↑ "MacTalk Magazine" (PDF). MacTalk Australia.
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