Real People Interview: Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus talks

Posted by Daniel East Oct 19, 2005 at 1:41am

When it comes to knowing your way around a Mac, there are a very few that I could say know more of the angles, issues and understanding of the “big picture” than Bob LeVitus. His monicker is spot-on as there seems to be little that this man has not or could not do … Apple or otherwise.

His personal history includes more than Mac and boasts a past surrounded by music, madness and mayhem. Like the great doctors before him (John, Hook, Feelgood and more), his passions are expressed in everything he does. Author, columnist, musician, entrepreneur and businessman, LeVitus is all about what preceded him and his future offerings which may benefit us all.

He’s more than an author, he’s an expert. LeVitus has penned almost 50books, and sold millions of copies in dozens of languages. His latest venture (adventure) is one which offers his vast expertise for technical training, support and troubleshooting by communicating with his clients via telephone, e-mail and a clever, easy-to-use remote control software item. Enter Doctor Mac Direct.

“I wanted to come up with something to really help people address their troubleshooting without all of the guessing games—as if I could just sit at their Mac and just go … ” reports LeVitus. “We have this great Internet-based way to have our agents connect to our customers, and we’re really very fair about our time.” Doctor Mac Direct works with their own network of professional Apple consultants and technicians as “agents” for their customers.

User Groups continue to be one of LeVitus’s passions and, as I do in all of my interviews, I asked him about his first presentation ever. “Eighth grade graduation,” he recalls, “is the first time I can remember speaking in front of a large audience. I went to a very small school, so every 8th grader had to get up and give a ‘commencement speech.’ That didn’t bother me a bit, and, in fact, I enjoyed it. But I remember we convinced the principal that year that The Rolling Stones’s ‘As Tears Go By’ was an appropriate commencement song. Giving the speech didn’t faze me, but singing and playing in front of that same audience had me scared spitless. For what it’s worth, it still does—I get very nervous every time I play or sing in front of anyone but my family.”

Creating a product can be an interesting task after reviewing so many of them. “My philosophy is that no product is ever ‘done.’ There’s always something about it that could be executed better or more elegantly. Conversely, you have to ship it sometime. So you can’t expect to ‘finish’ it before it ships. (Why? Because no product is ever done, of course…)”

“Making music with GarageBand. I mean, I’m one of the few people who can actually say they wrote the book on GarageBand (GarageBand For Dummies), but even six months later I still make music as often as I can find the time. If you’re brave, feel free to listen to some of the songs I think came out well—The Ramones’ ‘Rockaway Beach’, Black Sabbath’s ‘Black Sabbath,’ George Jones’ ‘Brown to Blue,’ Alice Cooper’s ‘I’m Eighteen,’ and James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’.”
Continuing: “I love MUGs. When I was a pup just getting started in the Mac trade, the folks at LAMG in Los Angeles were like family to me. I’m in love with the concept—Mac users helping other Mac users for free because it FEELS SO FREAKIN’ GOOD.”

In terms of his view regarding the future of user groups, “Alas, with the advent of the Internet, user group members have no need to attend meetings just to copy floppy disks of shareware. And they don’t have to attend a meeting to hold intelligent conversations with other Mac users. These days we’ve got Web sites to do that, not to mention all those sites with chat boards or BBS. Many of the things we used to have to go to MUG meetings to do in the old days are done faster and more easily on the Web.”

“And so, since those aren’t things you have to do in person anymore,” admits LeVitus. “MUGs have been forced to adapt, some more successfully than others. Groups that remain stuck in the past by not offering anything you couldn’t find on the Web in five minutes have either gone out of business or are barely alive today. On the other hand, groups that offer services members can’t easily get elsewhere—such as feature presentations, SIGs, newsletters, swap meets, raffles, and so on—are thriving.”

Who’s on his iPod?

I asked LeVitus who’s on this iPod. He says: Elvis Costello, the Beatles, David Garza, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Oasis, U2, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Fountains of Wayne, MeatLoaf, Joe Ely, Todd Rundgren, John Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, King Crimson, Lyle Lovett, Matthew Sweet, Michael Penn, Roxy Music, Wilco, the Who and the Ramones.

What are his favorite gadgets??

“That’s a tough one,” LeVitus says. “I suppose it’s my iPod photo, which may be the coolest device I’ve ever carried around with me that wasn’t a PowerBook. I like my PowerBook pretty well, too.”

What is his current personal-use computer?

“I have a Dual 1.8GHz G5 with 2GB RAM, nearly a terabyte of disk space, and a pair of humongous displays—an Apple 23-inch Cinema Display and a old 24-inch NEC MultiSync CRT monitor,” LeVitus says.

Some of the places you can find his work: Layers Magazine (formerly Mac Design), GarageBand for Dummies, Tiger for Dummies, Panther for Dummies, The Houston Chronicle and The Mac Observer.

What are your “personal essentials?”

LeVitus’ list includes: at least one iPod, a Sony-Ericsson phone with his calendar and address book on it (thanks to iSync), pants, at least one PowerBook, headphones, his wallet, glasses/sunglasses, keys, some type of food covering and at least one credit card.
Conclusion

With a very common-sense approach, a “matter-of-fact” manner and a lot of fun worked into his modus operandi, LeVitus works hard to convey a sense that Macs are, indeed, for everyone and that everyone can accomplish a lot with them. “Find something you love to do and have fun doing it,” he says. “Nobody ever said on their deathbed, ‘I wish I had spent more time working’.”

(This article was reprinted, with permission, from the AUGmentations: The Apple Groups Team Newsletter. AUGmentations is an exclusive benefit for user group leaders, vendors, resellers, manufacturers, developers, Apple Consultants Network—ACNs—and Apple staff who are members of The Apple Groups Team. For more information about joining the TAGteam Leaders’ eList, go here)

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