NZMac.com - Supporting the New Zealand Mac community

This is an idea I have had for the site for quite some time...but is an idea that is going to succeed or fail with YOU, not me. Why? Well for two reasons....First, any attempt at writing the history of Apple and Macintosh computers in New Zealand requires a collective approach (your experiences are what make the history of Apple in New Zealand)...and second...I can't for the life of me get to grips with wikis! ;-)

So here it is...an attempt to develop a communal (is that the right term?) historical document related to Apple and Macintosh computers in New Zealand...using a technical system that allows for the NZMac.com-munity to work together on its contents.

As mentioned, it is something that I have had as an idea for almost 8 months or more. I've had the wiki software installed on the site all that time, but never found the time to get to use it and become familiar with it in the way in which I hoped. At the same time, given that little appeared to be happening in New Zealand to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of a computer company we all adore, I decided to hurry this along a bit. That and the fact that holding the release for this back until I'm ready kind of defeats the whole purpose of this thing anyway. This is about all of us and our historical experiences in using Macs and earlier Apple machines here in New Zealand.

So, what is a wiki?

Well the best answer for that can be found at the best wiki of all...Wikipedia...an online encyclopedia that everyone is creating...

A wiki (IPA: [?wi?.ki?] <wee-kee> or [?w?.ki?] <wick-ey>^[1]) is a type of website that allows anyone visiting the site to add, remove, or otherwise edit all content, quickly and easily, often without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative writing.

The term Wiki can also refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website (see wiki software).

In essence, a wiki is nothing more than a simplified system of creating HTML web pages, combined with a system that records and catalogues all revisions, so that at any time, an entry can be reverted to a previous state. A wiki system may also include various tools, designed to provide users with an easy way to monitor the constantly changing state of the wiki as well as a place to discuss and resolve the many inevitable issues, namely, the inherent disagreement over wiki content. Wiki content can also be misleading, as users are bound to add incorrect information to the wiki page.

So why use this?

• To allow us all to be the authors of a history of Apple and Macintosh in New Zealand.
• Because I had great visions of one day writing a Mac book (yeah, as if I have the time!) and the idea of a New Zealand History of Apple really appealed. And then reality hit...I know nothing and you all know it all.

So what next?

Well, this history is ours...what you want written and what we all want shared...our NZMac community is going to make this succeed or fail (preferably not the latter!).

Some stuff you need to know:

• Many might start to use the wiki to tell us about themselves. It's not that we really aren't interested in you (in the nicest possible way of course) but it is your Mac experiences that may be more relevant.
  
  So...an entry that isn't really of generic historical relevance to us all might be something like..."My first Mac was a Performa 630". See what I mean? Doesn't really provide any New Zealand history.
  
  But.....this....."I ordered and received a Performa 630 from Renaissance (Apple NZ) in September of 1994. I was told that it was the first Performa of that model to arrive in the country"...does provide us with details as to when Performa computers first hit our shores.
  
  
• Only registered users of the site can enter information (this is to stop spamming and inappropriate behaviour)
  
  
• Please, please, please...do not email information to me asking me to add it in. Please add it to the wiki yourself. That's what wikis are all about.

So get to it...start editing, adding and wiki-ing . User groups, feel free to add as much historical information as you see fit concerning your clubs. The more information we have, the better.

Fingers crossed this will go well. Feel free to post in the forum if you have any questions or need some guidance.

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