MacWEEK is officially gone. To computer industry newcomers, MacWEEK may not mean all that much. But to those of us who’ve been in this industry since the early days, MacWEEK held a special place in our hearts. Back when I worked at Living Videotext, a developer of Macintosh software, my boss and I would literally hover over the somewhat unamused mail delivery person so we could snatch up and devour our copies of MacWEEK the minute they arrived. In those early years, back in 1987 or so, there wasn’t a World Wide Web. So industry news showed up in magazines, usually months after anything good happened. But MacWEEK accelerated things; as soon as you got your hands on this glossy, tabloid-sized magazine, you’d be up to date. More importantly, since it covered all Mac-related news, it was a great way to find out what all our friends were doing.

Today, of course, things are different. If you want Palm-related news, for example, you check out PalmPower each day. You get email bulletins, tips, and downloads to your Palm device. You can even wirelessly connect and get the very latest, up to the minute news. And that timeliness is wonderful. But even though the times have changed and printed industry weeklies like PC Week and MacWEEK are no longer viable, they served a very important role in getting us from there to here. These publications were, to steal a catch phrase, the daily (well, weekly) diaries of the computer business.

As we watch the passing of MacWEEK, one of the true pioneers, it’s also important to note that the editorial staffs and writers of those publications helped us become successful, helped us to innovate, and frankly, helped us create the Internet environment which, sadly, entropically, would lead to their eventually demise. To all those writers who gave us wonderful press coverage, to all those editors who guided our attention with their industry vision, and even to all those advertisers who made cool goodies available, we thank you, salute you, and are grateful for the inspiration you’ve given us. We, publishers of the Internet age stand on your shoulders and appreciate all you’ve taught us. — DG