In absolutely horrible news, Mac360 founder Ron McElfresh has announced that the Mac360 site, online since mid-2004, will shut down as he’s been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
How did all this get started? I met Tera Jean Patricks at a winter CES in Las Vegas a few years earlier. Tera grabbed a few of her friends– Barbara Marie Brannan, Alexis Kayhill, and Natalia Nowak– and I grabbed a few of mine; St. Louis friend Jack Miller and his wife Carol, and Mac360 launched on an old iMac on my home office desktop. The rest, as they say, is history… Through the years we saw it all. The Mac moved to Intel Inside. The iPhone arrived. The App Store. iPad. Apple Pay, Apple Music, AirPods, and much more. We saw Apple’s stock price and valuation rise to record levels…
Yes, all good things come to an end.
A few years ago I came down with an odd neuromuscular disorder that has slowly become debilitating. After 18 months of tests with a dozen different doctors I was referred to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. More doctors and extensive tests confirmed a preliminary diagnosis of ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Think of it as a slow-motion death sentence where muscles begin to waste away and tasks as simple as tying shoelaces or buttoning a shirt or standing become major accomplishments…
My spirits are high (most of the time). I’ve led a good life, worked hard, and appreciate the loving support from family and friends, but I know – and feel – the end is near… I cannot continue. In more ways than one, the end is near. Mac360 will close down…
It has been a very pleasant and interesting journey for all of us at Mac360. We hope we provided you with useful and beneficial information and perspectives, too. My hope is that I may be counted in the 10-percent of people who are diagnosed with ALS but the diagnosis is wrong.
Time will tell.
Thanks for the memories.
MacDailyNews Take: This is such sad news. Our thoughts are with Ron tonight.
Ron has completed three weeks of tests at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Due to the nature of the disease and how debilitating it can be, a GoFundMe page has opened to help defray some of the travel and medical expenses for what turned out to be a much longer stay for Ron and his wife. Doctors at Mayo Clinic have asked him to return in a few months to measure the disease’s relentless progress for which there is no cure.
Please visit Ron McElfresh’s Medical Expenses & Travel GoFundMe page is here.