''MacBreak'' was an

internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

show hosted by

Leo Laporte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...

, Kendra Arimoto, Alex Lindsay,

iJustine Justine Ezarik ( ; born March 20, 1984) is an American YouTuber. She is best known as iJustine, with over one billion views on her YouTube channel. She gained attention as a lifecaster who communicated directly with her millions of viewers on ...

and Emery Wells from

TWiT.tv TWiT.tv, which is the operating trade name of TWiT LLC, is a podcast network that broadcasts many technology news podcasts, founded by technology broadcaster and author Leo Laporte in 2005, and run by his wife and company CEO Lisa Laporte. ...

and the Pixel Corps. The podcast was dedicated to Apple's

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

computers and other Apple products such as the

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

. ''MacBreak'' was the first podcast in

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...

high definition format, with the release of an episode on the TWiT web site in the format. According to

This Week in Tech ''This Week in Tech''–casually referred to as ''TWiT'', and briefly known as ''Revenge of the Screen Savers''–is the weekly flagship podcast and namesake of the TWiT.tv network. It is hosted by Leo Laporte and many other former TechTV emplo ...

, MacBreak caused bandwidth problems for its service provider, Libsyn. ''MacBreak'' is a production of the TWiT.tv network in association with Pixel Corps. It is filmed in San Francisco, California on a greenscreen set at the

San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking, also known as the San Francisco Film School and FilmschoolSF, is a private, for-profit vocational film school in San Francisco, California. The school was founded by Stephen Kopels and Jeremiah Birnbaum ...

. Each episode, the live-action greenscreen footage is keyed and composited over a virtual 3D set by members of the Pixel Corps. This process is explained in the "Road to 1080p" episodes. Starting in April 2007 with the release of MacBreak #65, "''MacBreak Minutes''" hosted by

Merlin Mann Merlin Dean Mann III (born November 26, 1966) is an American writer, blogger, and podcaster. Early life and education Mann was born Merlin Dean Mann III on November 26, 1966, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mann received a B.A. from New College of Florida. ...

and Kenji Kato began to appear along with full MacBreak episodes. ''MacBreak Minutes'' are short tips that consisted of an application or tool featured in a one-minute condensed video. Regular MacBreak guests/alternate host have included

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

drummer

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

, Kenji Kato, Mark Spencer, Craig Syverson, Cali Lewis,

Don McAllister Don McAllister (born 26 May 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender for Bolton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Rochdale. Football career McAllister joined loc ...

and Dr. Kiki Sanford. As of MacBreak #29, the opening titles were changed to reflect the new lineup of hosts.

Amber MacArthur Amber Dawn MacArthur (born 27 June 1976) is a Canadian television and netcasting personality, bestselling author of two books, and keynote speaker. MacArthur (aka Amber Mac) is the former co-host of BNN's ''App Central'' and ''Bloomberg Brink'', ...

was no longer listed, replaced by Merlin Mann and Kendra Arimoto.

became a host on January 12, 2007. The latest episode was produced May 3, 2011.

MacBreak Weekly

A spin-off called ''MacBreak Weekly'' was started on August 13, 2006. It distributed in audio and video formats and features many of the video version hosts as well as special guests. The intro theme is made by Ashley Witt at tenthauser.com. The usual "Mac pundits," as they refer to themselves, are

Rene Ritchie Rene Ritchie (born 1972) is a Canadian independent blogger and YouTube content creator. Ritchie is known for his podcasts including Debug, Iterate, Vector, ZEN & TECH, Review, The TV Show, and as co-host of ''MacBreak Weekly'' on the TWiT Netwo ...

, Alex Lindsay, and

Andy Ihnatko Andy Ihnatko (born November 18, 1967) is a tech author and former technology journalist for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'',. He currently resides in Massachusetts. He is a co-host on the Material podcast, on Relay FM's network. He also appears on Le ...

. The content differs from MacBreak in that the discussion mainly covers Apple related news from the previous week. Other segments include a "Pick of the Week", where the hosts discuss various software and hardware they find useful. Sections and features There used to be a "Whine" section where the hosts complain about certain features of various Mac OS X applications they wish would be improved. A running joke is that Alex Lindsay tends to pick products with exorbitant price tags, and thus the panel has created a unit of currency, the “Alex” which is equivalent to the retail price of the current version of

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

(approximately $700.00 US). It is sometimes used as a unit of price for the "Picks of the Week" segment, while free items are said to be “zero Alexes”. MacBreak Weekly 125 saw the introduction of two new units of price; the "Scott" is equal to 11 "Alexes", and the "Great Scott" is equal to 10 "Scotts." The show is often very casual and relaxed, and the hosts get off topic quite a bit which seems to contribute to the overall tone of the show. A recent feature on the show includes a special jingle first introduced by Merlin Mann and then supplied as a full blown song titled " Rathole!" which is played when the conversation veers very far off from the original topic. Another recurring theme is Leo Laporte's habit of buying Apple products just before they are discontinued, the price cut or the product changes. This started when he bought a

Power Mac G4 Cube The Power Mac G4 Cube is a Macintosh personal computer sold by Apple Computer, Inc. between July 2000 and 2001. Designed by Jonathan Ive, the Cube was conceived by Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Jobs, who held an interest in a power ...

on the day it was discontinued. (This was referenced in episode 12; "Smokin'") It has become a joke throughout the shows, mostly between Merlin Mann and Scott Bourne. Due to other commitments Merlin Mann has been absent for most shows since episode 104, although he appeared in episode 122. The podcast has show notes published on the TWiT Wiki, under the MacBreak Weekly section. At the end of 2015, MacBreak Weekly was number 18 on the Top 40 US Technology Podcasts, making it the fourth highest weekly TWiT.tv podcast.

References

External links

* – official site * – official site * – YouTube channel containing clips of MacBreak; now inactive {{TWiT podcasts Video podcasts Technology podcasts 2006 podcast debuts 2011 podcast endings

MacBreak Weekly

See also

References

External links