1999: I have never seen a review of an email list before, but I thought it would be helpful to have someone check one out to see what is on the list, and whether or not joining the list would be worth the effort and the crowded email box. I have done such on “The Macintosh Guy’s” CPort List, which is for people interested in Apple’s upcoming P1 consumer portable.
The CPort List is probably the only ListServ (email list) about the Apple P1 consumer portable. It is an excellent resource for rumors, information leaks, and related product developments. Frequency of emails can range from once a day to once every 10 minutes.
P1 ‘News’ on the list
As with other e-discussion lists about future products, nearly all the news on the list is guesses and rumors. Only on rare occasions (about once every one to two weeks) will there be information leaked from Apple. Info of that sort isn’t very major – the last was the announcement that the P1 would be introduced around Earth Day, which is April 22.
The Wintel Invasion!
Many of the contributors to the list are Mac and PC users or Mac users that bought Wintel Slimbooks because they needed a ‘Book smaller than the heavy-as-a-bowling-ball PowerBook G3 Series. The problem with this, though, is that sometimes the CPort List becomes the Argue-Over-How-Much-Worse-The-Sony-Vaio-Is-Than-The-Toshiba-Portégé list.
My Advice to the Reader
The Macintosh Guy’s CPort List is a great resource for the latest info pertaining to the design of Apple’s Consumer Portable. If you are a Mac fanatic, the ooze of news about Wintel hardware developments can be annoying. However, the good outweighs the bad, and unless you are a complainer about the list’s occasional irrelevant info, you will enjoy the stream of concepts, expert predictions, and rumors about Apple’s coolest new computer since the iMac and the Blue & White Power Mac G3.
Good Stuff: Always has the latest news first, plenty of Mac experts subscribed that have made good predictions proven when info leaks out, discussions about other relevant products that may likely affect the design of the P1 (i.e. the Vadem Clio’s effect on the consumer-oriented portable-computer market).
Bad Stuff: Lots of irrelevant Wintel discussion (i.e. “Toshiba Portégés are better than Sony Vaio C1s”), the occasional false rumor.
Rating for Mac Lovers: AAPL
Rating for Mac+Wintel Users: AAPL-1/2E
Key: A=Avoid; AP=Flawed; APP=OK, but could be better; AAPL=A Good Choice; APPLE=Perfect
To join the CPort List, go to the Mac Digest web site [no longer online]
keywords: #ibook #cportlist
