To me, this seems just insane - how can anyone question the value of the message boards as a means of communication and support for Mac users. Apparently, Apple does not agree with this…

Apple Computer has decided to do away with its discussion support team, a group of forum hosts that have monitored and moderated its user discussion boards, a new report has confirmed.

According to an article at The Mac Observer, the team was recently dismantled after Apple management began to question the value of the boards.

“The end result, however, has been a marked decrease in the quality of discussions, and an increase in everything from rudeness to instructions on pirating music and software,” the report states.

It’s believed that Apple started to break down the discussion support team late last month. Specifically, AppleInsider sources indicated that Apple began dismissing the majority of the staff members on June 29th.

The Apple Discussion boards have long been a resource for Apple customers to report problems with the company’s products and receive helpful advice on how to solve those problems from other users and forum staff members…. Source: AppleInsider