A Pourhadi Perspective for the New Year

by Dan Pourhadi • 01/01/2007 at 04:12 PM

When Judson Collier, Macteens’ new Senior Editor in charge of content, asked me to write this piece for January 1st, I almost declined.

I am, after all, me, and as such I’m entitled to decline various offers from time to time just to keep editors on their toes. It also gives the illusion that I’m far more important than I really am—a huge plus when setting article prices and deciding who gets the last piece of pie at dinner.

But my sense of obligation got to me: I was voted TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006, and carrying that title compels me to ruminate on this great year that has so elegantly passed—on its up, its downs, its lefts and rights, and, of course, my impact on the world and how it’s a far better place because of me.

Oh, you won too...

I guess the “real” (cough) reason I’m writing this piece, however, is not me—though realistically that’s Pulitzer Prize-worthy as it is. The real reason, dear reader, is you—the Mac teen, the social-network-using, money-spending, internet-hoarding individuals who dictate the trends, embrace new technologies and, most importantly of all, decide the future of the entire planet.

Am I exaggerating? Not one bit.

Just ask TIME.

They stole my idea

A few months ago I was talking with my friend Kim, pondering the question every teen battles while flipping through TV channels at 1 a.m.: Who is the voice of our generation?

“No one reads anymore,” she said, emotionless, as if that fact was so obvious it didn’t merit expression.

I paused, millions of tiny synaptic connections exploding in my head.

That’s true, few people really truly read—especially work relating to the present day, literature reflective of our beliefs and attitudes towards the world. We do watch TV. A whole lot of it.

And we use the internet. In fact, that’s pretty much all we do to stay connected with the world.

“Maybe there is no one voice of our generation,” I said, scratching my chin as if I’d made a dramatic breakthrough. “For the first time ever, almost everyone can speak for themselves.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kim, now focused too much on the TV and less on my burst of genius.

“As long as you have an internet connection and something to say, you can make your own voice heard: through blogs or podcasts or homemade videos or whatever. When the public wants to speak, it can, and it has, and it isn’t filtered through some single voice or corporate PR firm. The internet has given all of us a voice. We speak for ourselves.”

“That’s true,” said agreed. “Well, question answered. You should write an article about it.”

I thought about it for a second.

“Nah. Who’d want to read that?”

Woops

TIME’s article was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Then again, that is the whole point of the Person of the Year feature, anyway.

But no one can deny the fact that the internet is really changing the way we impact the world. There will always be a few, notable individuals—Bush, Kim Jong Il, Gates, etc.—who dominate the news, who influence world attitude. But now more than ever, we, the common ilk, have a say; now we can not only dominate the news, we make the news, we dictate what is—and what isn’t—news in the first place.

Have our YouTube/MySpace exploits surpassed the influences of the world leaders? Not quite, not yet. But we’re getting there.

A Year of Obsessions

2006 was unquestionably the Year of Obsessions, especially among the teen community. Here are a few that definitely stood out.

MySpace - Hate it or love it, MySpace is here to stay, and 2006 solidified its place in the public mind as *the* teen online hangout. And even if you do hate it, there’s a good chance you probably have one, and check it every day, if for nothing more than to keep in touch with your friends. “What’s your MySpace?” is a far more common question than “Do you have one?” Hell, one day after meeting a girl she gave me a note, not with her phone number—but her MySpace name. (That was a definite Turn Off, but it certainly opened my eyes to MySpace’s growing dominance.)

Facebook - MySpace’s less bratty and significantly more mature brother, who worries less about flash and mass appeal and more about streamlined efficiency. It still Sucks A Whole Lot in the grand scheme of things, but at least it does so elegantly (though slightly more evasively). Facebook made headlines by enabling the infamous News feed—garnering a backlash of public resentment, but opening the users’ eyes to the fact that, online, everything is public knowledge.

Digg - If there’s one more post on Macteens’ forums about Digg, I can’t be responsible for the virus-laden e-mail sent to the poster. Curiously, it’s inhabited by most of the same people who hate MySpace, yet it’s just as pointless—and insidious—as its social brethren. No one can argue that Rose scored big, and Digg is a good way to learn about news otherwise ignored by the public—but like MySpace, its novelty will wear off. Eventually. Hopefully.

YouTube - YouTube is great. And its primary appeal may not be its social, anyone-can-be-famous design—but rather the professionally-produced video content (ie, TV shows, commercials, etc.) uploaded on a daily basis. And the world’s obsession with the concept spawned an army of competitors, eager to make the experience better for everyone. (Even the content industries are starting to see how important it truly is, evidenced by their agreeing to license content to users for free—asking, in exchange, for a cut of YouTube’s ad revenue.)

iPhone rumors - I’ll be honest: Unlike many of my writerly colleagues, I’m not sick of the constant barrage of iPhone rumors springing up almost daily. Phones today suck. Some are “decent,” but very few do anything really, genuinely well. That was the problem with MP3 players before Apple got on the scene: they existed, and some were happy with how they performed. But for the most part they were lacking—elegance, functionality, everything. The iPod changed that. And in 2007, I’m hoping the ApplePhone will change the cell phone industry the same way.

The Year Ahead

The coming year will undoubtedly be an exciting one, especially for teen members of the Mac elite, for two very specific reasons.

1. The Mac is back, baby!

Yup, even the PC folk are starting to accept it: The Mac is once again thriving—the iPod “halo” effect has taken form, and Apple’s Get a Mac campaign is wildly successful. Mac sales are skyrocketing, and everybody who’s anybody (and even a few who aren’t) are buying Macs, if not for the functionality, then for the ever-increasing “cool” factor associated with the venerable Apple logo.

Apple struck gold with the iPod, and the MacBook has thrown the Mac back into the mainstream, particularly for youth going to school, looking for an inexpensive—yet powerful—virus-free, software-abundant computer.

Boot Camp opened the door for Windowites looking for a way to take advantage of the Power of the Mac without sacrificing the software and routine to which they’ve become accustomed. The Mac is now hands-down the most software-compatible computer on the market, capable of running Windows, Linux, and OS X.

Adobe just pushed out a beta of Photoshop CS3, which screams on Intel-based Macs, removing the bottleneck that prevented so many pros from upgrading to the new machines when they were first announced.

And the mainstream media is finally recognizing the Mac as the brilliant platform that it is: Almost every Mac review is overwhelmingly positive, and few suggest anything less than a forceful “Toss out the PC and buy a Mac NOW!”

Buying a PC has gone on the scale from “Economical” to “Stupid,” with few exceptions. Developers are tapping into that, and taking advantage of Apple’s newfound prominence. And things will only get better.

2. Macteens is back, baby!

If you’ve been a long-time Macteens fan (or at least reader), you know this site has a sketchy history of keeping a publishing momentum. There’ll be a streak of really great content (like when the “Pourhadi Perspective” was regular, for example) and then it would eventually fizzle out, when the staff had to once again grudgingly return to their own school-filled lives.

Add to that our constant aging: most of the Macteens staff has almost passed “teen” status. I’m 19, and despite my endless struggle to re-define the laws of temporal reality, I can’t seem to stop getting older. Ditto for the rest of the team.

Anyone who has ever edited a high school newspaper will tell you it’s hard to maintain a teen-run publication. Writers lose motivation, editors get distracted. It comes with the territory—and it certainly doesn’t help that most of this is funded out of the staff’s own pockets.

But there is hope, and thy name is Judson Collier. Macteens is reorganizing its editorial and management staff, and Judson has—on a trial basis—assumed editorial control of Macteens content. And from what I’ve seen, Macteens is about to get a burst of new life.

He’s dedicated and filled with vision, and he’s one of the few people I’ve met who I trust to maintain the site, to beat the motivation woes that typically engulf those slated with such an abundance of responsibility. Like our venerated Chris Saribay, he’s willing to put in the effort required to make this site great. And with support from the experienced MT staff, he will.

I’m incredibly excited for Macteens. The future possibilities are endless, and with a new, energized staff behind the wheel, this site is once again ready for greatness.

***

As TIME’s Person of the Year, I’d like to bid 2006 adieu, and express my excitement for the year ahead.

Being a Mac teen has never been so exciting. And I only get to enjoy it for nine more months.

Damn you, time! Damn you!!!

We at Macteens wish you all a happy New Year!