I am looking to put some new life into the PCMech Youtube channel. Which means, more videos.

Which brings me to the question…

What kind of videos would you like?

Do you prefer full-on tutorial videos? Do you like opinion-based videos, where we editorialize on something doing on in the world of tech? Do you like news updates? A mix?

And, what topics are you most interested in?

If you would be so kind, chime in below using this quick survey:

Tampa, FL, April 1, 2013 – Tampa based technology blog, PCMech.com, is announcing today that it will be re-branded as MacMech.

PCMech.com began in 1997, making it one of the oldest technology blogs on the Internet. Started as a hobby by founder, David Risley, it was formed around the idea of explaining complicated computer topics in plain English. David was interested in building and upgrading computers, and created one of the most popular tutorials available on building your own computer. From there, PCMech shifted over the years to include more topics, including the Internet. Less and less people were still building custom PCs.

In order to get ahead of coming trends, and recognize what truly is the better computer, the team at PCMech decided to make it official and rebrand as MacMech.

“What it comes down to is this – Macs are better than PCs”, stated David Risley, founder of PCMech.com. “I have been using one for the last 6 years. I could never go back to the PC again. Windows Vista is what scared me over to the Mac. Then, Windows 7 came out and, I guess it was OK. But, have you looked at Windows 8? What is it with that Metro interface? They call that usable?”

David made the decision to rebrand after looking at the market. In 2012, the Mac gained market share while the PC sales actually dropped. In the mobile space, the Apple iPhone is the leader in market share. The Apple iPad dominates the tablet space. Research indicates that people who buy PCs would rather have a Mac, but they buy the PC simply in the interest of saving money.

So, that’s the news. The PC is old news anyway. I mean, let’s face it… it has inertia and it will take a while to die, but everybody is going out and buying iPads anyway.

Plus, from a business perspective, it makes more sense for me to take this site where the money is, right? Mac users spend GOBS of money. PC users don’t. I’ve sold a few Macs and got a few hundred dollars for them. Sold a first generation Mac Mini for almost $300. Try to sell an old PC? Nobody wants it. Sold an old laptop for $25.

Plus, from a content perspective, it is just easier to write about Macs. They never break! Windows PCs are breaking all the damn time. Ever looked in the PCMech Forums at all the weird problems people are having with their PCs? Anti-virus programs eating up resources. Drivers getting screwed up. Blah blah blah.

You should all be doing this.

With the Macs, we can talk about software. And accessories, of course. Love those accessories. And, there are only a few different models of Macs to talk about, so that makes our job a lot easier.

Plus, if we stick to Macs, that means we can forget about Linux. Thank GOD! If I wanted to get no actual work done, I would use Linux. What’s the difference between Linux and a computer virus? At least a virus does something.

So, PCMech has to adapt to the future. We’re going all Mac. Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Unfortunately, some other dude owns MacMech.com. But, whatever. “PCMech” is a made up word anyway. I can make it mean anything I want.

Tomorrow, we’ll begin posting Photoshop tutorials.

Now, where’s my doobie?

UPDATE: Yes, this was a joke.

And, I sat down and recorded a quick video from my desk…

To answer a question that is bound to come up here… yes, Rich is still with PCMech. He’s still authoring the weekly newsletter as well as a couple of articles for the members-only PCMech Insider each week.

So, the question from the video is…

What would YOU like to see here at PCMech.com?

Please post your answer below in the comments. And, I look forward to chatting with you down there.

For those of you who don’t know already, Apple’s announced the next product in their iPad line…but it’s a little smaller than you might expect. Apple showcased, for the first time, the iPad Mini; a tablet PC designed to fill in the gap between the iPhone and the standard model of their iPad, and to compete with the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7. Essentially, Apple’s using the iPad Mini to address a corner of the mobile market that they’ve not yet conquered.

Here’s what we know about the product so far.

The Price

The iPad Mini’s 16 GB Wi-Fi model debuts at $329 USD (a rather steep price, considering how much other, similar products are being sold for). The cost is what has everybody most concerned about the product, particularly given that the 64 GB model is priced at almost $700.00 in the U.S: a huge price hike over its competitors, and considerably higher than the $249-$299 prices that everyone was predicting for it. Pre-orders will be available on Friday, October 26, and the Mini will begin shipping a week later.

The Dimensions

The iPad Mini is, well…mini. It’s got a 7.9 inch screen and weighs in at .68 lbs, with a thickness of 7.2 mm (23% thinner and 53% lighter than the standard iPad.)

The Specs

The iPad Mini is available with either straight Wi-Fi, or with Wi-Fi and cellular service. As with virtually every other tablet on the market, it’s available with a hard drive size of 16, 32, or 64 GB. It’s packed with a dual-core A5 procsesor, a Facetime 1.2 MP HD camera capable of 720p video, a 5MP iSight camera, and 1080p video recording and the battery offers about 10 hours of battery life. You can read the full list of technical specifications here.

Software

The iPad Mini comes prepackaged with iOS 6, and a suite of all the standard apps which you’d expect to ship with a tablet.

Related Products

In addition to the iPad Mini, Apple also announced a super-thin iMac along with a redesigned Macbook Pro.

Image Credits: [Salon]

• How to Land A Job In An Online World
• 3 Ways To Find Stuff Faster When Using Online Maps
• The Modern Guide to Securely Destroying Old Documents
• How to find out what the going rate is for ANYTHING

Thanks to everybody.

You can see the outline of this and all past issues right here.

And, if you’re not yet an Insider, click here to learn about what we’re doing and, of course, join us.

You’ll have access to all back issues when you join, as well.

• Can the iPad 3 Replace A Laptop?
• Resource to control WHEN email is sent using Gmail
• 5 Ways To Keep Your Humanity In An Otherwise Connected World
• A great option for backing up your system both locally and online.
• Are the Glory Days of Getting Deals Online Over? Rich opines.
• How to unsubscribe from multiple spam senders in your inbox… with a single click

Thanks to everybody.

And, if you’re not yet an Insider, click here to learn about what we’re doing and, of course, join us.

You’ll have access to all back issues when you join, as well.

• Cutting The Cord: Getting rid of cable TV and still having access to your favorite shows. Services and hardware needed.
• 5 Things You Have to Unlearn With Linux
• Tips on Running The “Classic Theme” on Windows
• A Linux option designed to look like Windows 7

Thanks to everybody.

And, if you’re not yet an Insider, click here to learn about what we’re doing and, of course, join us.

You’ll have access to all back issues when you join, as well.

• Creative Uses For Dropbox, some non-obvious ways to use the Dropbox service.
• Getting a virtual desktop… in the cloud.
• Minimizing the annoyance of CAPTCHA
• How to automate your Dropbox account
• Basic, Better and Best Options For Pre-Paid Cell Phones (VIDEO)
• VLC 2.0 Release
• Easily Recording Skype Conversations

Thanks to everybody.

And, if you’re not yet an Insider, click here to learn about what we’re doing and, of course, join us.

You can join for as little as $4.99/month – but this pricing is going to be changing shortly. As in, this coming Thursday at noon Eastern. So, lock in your subscription right away.

• How to get started using Evernote (a lot of people are confused how to integrate it into their lives. We’ll help.)
• Fixing Java on your Computer
• A resource to turn your Gmail account into a full-blown task manager
• How to use “old school” Outlook Express 6
• Using the Internet to “automate” regular household tasks

Thanks to everybody.

And, if you’re not yet an Insider, click here to learn about what we’re doing and, of course, join us.

You can join for as little as $5/month – but this pricing is going to be changing shortly.

This is going to be a lot more than a re-design. While the entire scope of the project is a bit large, it is actually going to be a shift in how the site conducts itself. There will be editorial changes as well. Mind you, the PCMech that our long-time readers have known will remain, however we’re adding to it through some new directions in our content.

But, for now, let me show you a few things with the new design we’re working on. First, here is a chunk of our new header, complete with a new version of our logo…

Another issue we found with the site was that we had TONS of great stuff back in our article archives that people just don’t see unless they happen into it from the search engines. So, we’re devising a way to re-feature some of our past stuff and let you guys check it out again. Here is what that will look like:

Our premium membership program is going to be getting the 5-star treatment as well. Here is a partial shot of our new feature list for our members of PCMech Premium:

To go along with the new site, the forums will also be following suit. We are going to switch to a fixed-width layout, but one that makes much better use of space and should prove a welcome change to our members. Here’s a partial shot:

As I said, we’re in the final stretch on this. Still got some things to finish before we can start to implement this new design. Even once we begin, it will be a process. There is no instant-switch we can push to flip a site this big over to a new layout, so it will come in stages, with some follow-up fixes and content re-formatting to be done after the fact.

But, when it is complete, it’ll be nice.

In the meantime, I invite you to connect with PCMech by commenting on our posts, subscribing to our newsletter, and getting involved in some conversations in our huge forum community.