Why Every Mac User Should Read Daring Fireball.

Mac users live in the growing light of the information age. There’s a dark side of our digital lives that I will call the “misinformation age.”

To know which is which, those of us using digital tools and living an online life must, as the knight in Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade said, “Choose wisely.”

Where do Mac users go for accurate, informed knowledge on the topics of our digital lives? There are plenty of Mac-oriented web sites from which to choose.

Mac360 may owe its existence as a web site to John Gruber’s DaringFireball, a concise and clear thinking haven among online information repositories.

Tera Patricks, who launched Mac360 a few years ago, did so because she believed the Mac community online needed more voices of reason like Gruber’s. Why?

Mac users suffered under the domination of a Microsoft-controlled digital world, and articulate voices of reason were few and far between. That remains the case, though the distance between the voices of truth is less, and the volume of the voices is greater.

As I read Gruber’s commentary on AAC I was reminded of why Tera started Mac360. Dialog. Not only is a dialog important in the information age, it’s even more important that the dialog have as its goal an exchange of accurate knowledge.

That’s what makes reading John Gruber’s commentaries such a delight for Mac and Windows users. In general, John’s writing is concise, clear, factual, reasoned, and comes with a heady measure of spice.

Dialog. Tera wanted Mac360 to become a web site which would review Mac applications and utilities, and provide a forum for discussion of all things Mac. While we haven’t achieved nearly the level of success of a DaringFireball, the objective remains.

Not only do we review software which we deem valuable and worthy, we provide opportunity for reader commentary. Mac360’s forums provide more intimate dialog opportunities and response from the writing staff.

Where DaringFireball sets itself apart from the rattle and prattle of most media web sites and weblogs is John’s attention to detail and exposure of factual clarity. For the facts to speak for themselves, they have to be exposed, not obscured, twisted, repainted, or spun around.

His premise is always clearly understood, and whether you agree or not, there is little that is left to be argued. I like that. I know Tera felt the same way, and so do the rest of the Mac360 writers.

We don’t always agree with every point or perspective you’ll read on DaringFireball. For example, we still don’t think Twitter is all it’s cracked up to be, but that may be a generational perspective.

Previous generations received information from media as part of a one way forum. Letters to the editor in the local newspaper is not much of a dialog. If DaringFireball has a fault, it would be the lack of a comment dialog for readers.

Mac360 has both comments and forums and we can tell you from experience that the opportunity to abuse the freedom to dialog requires effort to maintain and moderate. John’s nearly one way street, his voice, his reasoning, may just be an example of good discipline.

All members of the Mac community would do well to select online voices of reason and clarity and compare such with those of from the world of hype and hyperbole, the Enderle’s, Thurott’s, Dvorak’s, Ballmer and Gates of the digital world.

Do you have a favorite online writer? A favorite web site or weblog? Who, where and why?