Mac the Knife

One may also be looking for the song, Mack the Knife

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Mac the Knife is the pen name (inspired by the homophonous well-known song) of an anonymous gossip columnist for the (now defunct) Apple Macintosh-focused trade publication MacWEEK. Several theories exist regarding the identity of Mac the Knife. Some believe that the appellation was handed down from editor to editor during the publication's history. Others have speculated that several editors compared facts simultaneously prior to writing columns cooperatively, but Stephen Howard-Sarin, former Executive Editor of MacWEEK confirms that the journalist was a singular person, not a plurality of writers.

Tipsters who provided juicy gossip were provided with coffee mugs emblazoned with the Knife's logo.

MacWEEK's party at MacWorld Conference & Expo was named for this fictional character. The party was often more secretive than Apple's own parties, to protect the identity of the Knife.

During the latter part of the Knife's career, his or her columns appeared on a website called The Electric Knife, which was published by Mac Publishing at mactheknife.com, but after the Knife's retirement, the domain expired; it is no longer associated with the Knife.

Today, Mac the Knife doesn't write using this name anymore, though it's plausible that the columnist(s) moved to MacEdition, penning a column called The Naked Mole Rat Report (an allusion to a phrase used in one of the Knife's last columns). Others speculate that the late Robert Hess, former editor Matthew Rothenberg (of the online publication eWEEK), or Nick DePlume of the online publication Think Secret is the columnist.