It's great to be sitting here writing this and to look back at my 2007 post and what a lousy year that was, and to think how times have changed. I'm not going to say I'm over the moon jumping for joy...that will happen when I turn an actual profit or be bought out for a huge amount of money (I'm allowed to dream)....but all in all, it's been one of the funnest years I've had with the site. And also the most completely exhausting-est!

NZMac.com is an incredibly busy site. Over 2008, it has received up to 26,000 unique visitors  per month. This value is one of the more stricter and accurate statistics I feel you can use on a site, as both "visits" and "hits" are impacted more by repeat visitors and content. I can easily tell you that NZMac.com receives up to 966,000 hits per month, but to me, that statistic is meaningless.

I started thinking about this article in October. It's not that I generally prepare my "Year that was" comments that early, but it just popped into my mind that it would be coming up and already, by the beginning of October, I was starting to think "Wow.....that was some amazing year!". There are so many things that have happened in the Mac and Apple scene over the past 12 months (most notably perhaps the launch of the iPhone in NZ) and with this site (whole new look, revised Joomla base and the launch of NZiPhone.com) that I wanted to start getting things down in text.

Last year was not an enjoyable year because of the technical attacks the site received, the work that had to be done to recover from this and the increased cost that this resulted in. This year has really been a 'bedding in' of the site once more and I'm really pleased with how it has come along. I will always see the site as a work in progress, but it just felt more settled this year. I also felt more comfortable with the changes that I had made as the result of great feedback from the site survey that I ran....even chopping some things (like user maps) that seemed great and should have built a sense of community, but didn't really take off.

These changes will continue in the New Year, with the launch of an amazing new section and functionality on the NZMac.com website. I can't say more than that...but I can't wait for the new feature to launch.

Technically, the site has been a lot more stable this year after the intense 'denial of service' attacks from last year. Credit where credit is due...NZMac.com is in no small part still chugging along thanks to RimuHosting.com, the company that I host my virtual private server with and who are so incredibly responsive. They must get sick of me saying "I don't understand what I'm meant to do with this command line", but they never seem to complain! They are awesome and have saved me on many occasion.

Yet again the site wouldn't be standing if not for the huge support of the users, advertisers and companies that at some stage through the year, have contributed to the site. Thanks must go to all users of the site who take the time to support others and answer some amazingly complex questions. I'm still to this day and these years on, amazed at the technical knowledge amassed within the user base of this website. I'd like to pay particular thanks to the users of this site who have been involved since day one, now an amazing 6 years of contribution. New users are also supporting the concept of community involvement and it's great that one of the last items to publish this year was a podcast of community users, developed by them for the site.

Thanks once again to my 'regulars' in the advertising section - Dennis @ RentaMac (www.rentamac.co.nz), Jens @ ToshComputers.com (www.toshcomputers.com), Linda @ ColourManagement (www.colourmanagement.co.nz) and the great folk at Orcon (http://www.orcon.net.nz). Thanks also to those that advertised at some point during the year.

This has also been the first full year that I have been an Apple Affiliate with the Apple Store NZ. I decided at the beginning of year to promote this feature more within the site, by placing reminders in email notifications and RSS feeds. It costs nothing to Apple to have their ads appear on the site, but I get commission on any sales where someone clicks on the advert, is redirected to the store and completes the transaction. It has been a really successful year with the Affiliate scheme and it has allowed me to fund some of the prizes that I gave away on the site and on NZiPhone.com, as well as purchase more expensive systems that form a part of the site. It was also the year that the coffee mugs sales continued and ended on the site, and so many of you purchased. Thank you to everyone who did buy. I have to say that I'm not planning to get more mugs at this stage because of the amount of work they create (I became well-known at the Post Office) and to be honest, the very small income they generated after costs are removed (especially after the Post Office put up their postage prices!).

It's been an amazing year of Apple launches over the past 12 months. Here's a list of the events from 2008, as taken from http://www.nzmac.com/news/apple/

I just look at that list and think, wow! Then I think how much my iPhone cost me and I think, Grrr! But I'll grin and bear it, as it is such an incredible machine. I've never been one to show off my Mac to people that much, as I think you're more likely to convince people to come on over from the dark side by osmosis rather than by shoving Macs down their throat...but I confess that I have now become one of the people I didn't want to be, by forever running around with my iPhone showing people what it can do.

As the year draws to a close, there are changes afoot with the Macworld conference, with Apple announcing they'll not attend after their presence in early January. I'm upset, but understand their decision. The good news from my point of view is that I'm lousy at getting out of bed...so even struggling to catch up at 6am on the live news was always something I found tough. So now I at least get to sleep through my alarm as I often do.

I'm not going to speculate on Steve Jobs's health as I don't feel that it's appropriate, nor their decision to pull out of the event. I guess the thing that does disappoint me, and worry me, is that for the last time a keynote will be held, Steve Jobs has decided it won't be him doing it. OK, this might be seen as starting to signal a changing of the guard or simply giving many able staff credit and attention where it is due....but I can't help thinking it also means Macworld announcements are not going to be as earth-shattering as we've always come to expect. In fact, I think one of Apple's reasons for pulling out is the unfair expectations we've often placed on the event.

I don't think it sends any concerning signals to the Mac community...but, like the end of roadshows here in New Zealand, I do think that it affects that sense of community. I like that NZMac.com supports the Mac community around the country, but that can never beat things such as roadshows and conferences. I've said in the past that these events in New Zealand have been a case of "preaching to the converted"...but hey, just being in the same church now and then, next to fellow Mac faithful from around the world or country, is great. Peter M...are you reading this!!?? We need a Mac conference!

So it's a time of change and perhaps a time of reflection (gosh, that's deep!) about all things Macintosh and Apple and how we're going to see them and be a part of their community in the New Year. One danger I do see (and has been commented on worldwide) is that in times of crisis, Apple has been quick to call on its loyal followers and expect support from them....and we've always delivered. In times of success, the danger is to forget that devoted community and to set aside all that is great about that community in the face of sales and success. I wish Apple all the very best....but remember us...because we're not going anywhere and you'll always need us...through thick and thin.

Wishing you all a safe and prosperous holiday season. All the best for 2009!

Regards,

Philip Roy