Computer magazine

File:Net magazine June 2020 cover.webp

An example of computer (and internet) magazine was net, this magazine was initially targeting internet users in general before shifting to web design until its final issue in June 2020.

Computer magazines are about computers and related subjects, such as networking and the Internet. Most computer magazines offer (or offered) advice, some offer programming tutorials, reviews of the latest technologies, and advertisements.

History

1940s–1950s

Sources:.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref>

• Mathematics of Computation established in 1943, articles about computers began to appear from 1946 (Volume 2, Number 15) to the end of 1954.<ref group="note">In 1955, the "Automatic Computing Machinery" column was removed, but the full-length articles about computers still continued to appear with varying frequency.</ref> Scientific journal.
• Digital Computer Newsletter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (1949–1968), founded by Albert Eugene Smith.
• Computers and People, (1951–1988<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>), was arguably the first computer magazine. It began as Roster of Organizations in the Field of Automatic Computing Machinery (1951–1952),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref group="note">Alternative title: Roster of Organizations in the Computing Machinery Field.</ref> and then The Computing Machinery Field (1952–1953).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was published by Edmund Berkeley. Computers and Automation held the first Computer Art Contest in 1963<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and maintained a bibliography on computer art starting in 1966.<ref>The BITSAVERS.ORG Documents Library: Computers and Automation Journal</ref> It also included a monthly estimated census of all installed computer systems starting in 1962.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1973 name changed to Computers and Automation and People, and finally in 1975 to Computers and People.<ref name=":0" />
• AFIPS conference proceedings<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (AFIPS Joint Computer Conferences) (1952–1987).
• ACM National Conference proceedings (Proceedings of National Meetings) (1952, 1956–1987, 1997)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref group="note">First published in 1952, regular publication started in 1964 (Publications in computing: an informal review, p. 494).</ref><ref name=":1" />
• IEEE Transactions on Computers from 1952, scientific journal.
• Computing News (1953–1963<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), was an early computer magazine produced by Jackson W. Granholm out of Thousand Oaks, California. The first documented copyright was applied for on September 1, 1954, for issue #36. The magazine was released on the 1st and 15th of each month, which places issue #1 at March 15, 1953. The last documented release was issue #217 on March 15, 1962.<ref>Lost Media Wiki article containing U.S Copyright Office catalog scans</ref><ref>Computing News Issue #216 from March 1st, 1962</ref><ref>Computing News Issue #217 from March 15th, 1962</ref>
• Journal of the ACM from 1954, scientific journal.
• Datamation from 1957, was another early computer and data processing magazine. It is still being published as an e-publication on the Internet. Futurist Donald Prell was its founder.
• Information and Computation from 1957, scientific journal.
• IBM Journal of Research and Development from 1957, scientific journal.
• Communications of the ACM from 1958, mix of science magazine, trade magazine, and a scientific journal
• The Computer Journal from 1958, scientific journal.

1960s–1970s

• ACS Newsletter (1966–1976), Amateur Computer Society newsletter.<ref>Amateur Computer Society newsletter, 1966-1976</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Computerworld (1967)
• People's Computer Company Newsletter (1972–1981)
• Amateur Computer Club Newsletter (ACCN; 1973–)
• Dr. Dobb's Journal (1976–2014) was the first microcomputer magazine to focus on software, rather than hardware.

1980s

In the 1980s, computer magazines skewed their content towards the hobbyist end of the then-microcomputer market, and used to contain type-in programs, but these have gone out of fashion. The first magazine devoted to this class of computers was Creative Computing. Byte was an influential technical journal that published until the 1990s.

In 1983, an average of one new computer magazine appeared each week.<ref name="berg19840908">Template:Cite news</ref> By late that year more than 200 existed. Their numbers and size grew rapidly with the industry they covered, and BYTE and 80 Micro were among the three thickest magazines of any kind per issue.<ref name="nyt19831109">Template:Cite news</ref> Compute!Template:'s editor in chief reported in the December 1983 issue that "all of our previous records are being broken: largest number of pages, largest-number of four-color advertising pages, largest number of printing pages, and the largest number of editorial pages".<ref name="lock198312">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Computers were the only industry with product-specific magazines, like 80 Micro, PC Magazine, and Macworld; their editors vowed to impartially cover their computers whether or not doing so hurt their readers' and advertisers' market, while claiming that their rivals pandered to advertisers by only publishing positive news.<ref name="bartimo19841210">Template:Cite news</ref>

BYTE, in March 1984, apologized for publishing articles by authors with promotional material for companies without describing them as such, and in April suggested that other magazines adopt its rules of conduct for writers, such as prohibiting employees from accepting gifts or discounts.

InfoWorld stated in June that many of the "150 or so" industry magazines published articles without clearly identifying authors' affiliations and conflicts of interest.

Around 1985, many magazines ended. However, as their number exceeded the amount of available advertising revenue despite revenue in the first half of the year five times that of the same period in 1982. Consumers typically bought computer magazines more for advertising than articles, which benefited already leading journals like BYTE and PC Magazine and hurt weaker ones. Also affecting magazines was the computer industry's economic difficulties, including the video game crash of 1983, which badly hurt the home-computer market.

Dan Gutman, the founder of Computer Games, recalled in 1987 that "the computer games industry crashed and burned like a bad night of Flight Simulator—with my magazine on the runway". Antic's advertising sales declined by 50% in 90 days, Compute!'s number of pages declined from 392 in December 1983 to 160 ten months later, and Compute! and Compute!'s Gazette's publisher assured readers in an editorial that his company "is and continues to be quite successful ... even during these particularly difficult times in the industry". Computer Gaming World stated in 1988 that it was the only one of the 18 color magazines that covered computer games in 1983 to survive the crash. Compute! similarly stated that year that it was the only general-interest survivor of about 150 consumer-computing magazines published in 1983.

Some computer magazines in the 1980s and 1990s were issued only on disk (or cassette tape, or CD-ROM) with no printed counterpart; such publications are collectively (though somewhat inaccurately) known as disk magazines and are listed separately.

1990s

In some ways, the heyday of printed computer magazines was a period during the 1990s. During this period, a large number of computer manufacturers took out advertisements in computer magazines, so they became quite thick and could afford to carry quite a number of articles in each issue. Computer Shopper was a good example of this trend.

Some printed computer magazines used to include covermount floppy disks, CDs, or other media as inserts; they typically contained software, demos, and electronic versions of the print issue.

2000s–2010s

However, with the rise in popularity of the Internet, many computer magazines went bankrupt or transitioned to an online-only existence. Exceptions include Wired, which is more of a technology magazine than a computer magazine.

Notable regular contributors to print computer magazines

Name	Occupation	Magazines (years of regular contributions)
Template:Flagicon Ken Arnold	Programmer	Unix Review (1980s–1990s)
Template:Flagicon Charlie Brooker	TV comedian, TV reviewer, newspaper columnist	PC Zone (1990s)
Template:Flagicon Orson Scott Card	Science fiction author	Ahoy!, Compute!
Template:Flagicon Chris Crawford	Game designer	BYTE, Computer Gaming World
Template:Flagicon Pamela Jones	Paralegal, legal blogger	Linux User, others
Template:Flagicon Stan Kelly-Bootle	Writer, consultant, programmer, songwriter	UNIX Review (1984–2000), OS/2 Magazine, Software Development
Template:Flagicon Nicholas Negroponte	Professor, investor	Wired magazine (1993–1998)
Template:Flagicon Jerry Pournelle	Science fiction author	BYTE (1980–2006)
Template:Flagicon Rhianna Pratchett	Game scriptwriter, journalist	PC Zone
Template:Flagicon Bruce Schneier	Security specialist, writer, cryptographer	Wired magazine
Template:Flagicon Charles Stross	Science fiction and fantasy author	Computer Shopper (UK magazine) (1994–2004)
Template:Flagicon Don Lancaster	Writer, consultant, programmer	Dr. Dobb's Journal, Byte, etc.

See also

• Online magazine
• Magazine
• Online newspaper

References

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