The BYTE Award winners were selected through a democratic process. All BYTE editors, including staff, consulting, and contributing editors, participated. BYTE licensees around the world (who reprint BYTE editorial material in the native languages of their respective countries) also participated.
The process begins with nominations. To be eligible, a product or technology must have been introduced since the previous year's award process ended (i.e., early October) and be likely to ship to users by the end of the current calendar year. We judge the likelihood of a nominee's shipping based on the vendor's announced shipping date and the apparent maturity of the product or technology. Nominated products must have been covered or have planned coverage in BYTE.
A nominated product should be one that breaks new ground in terms of new
technology, performance, price, or innovative use of existing technology. An editor can nominate only products that he or she has had hands-on experience with and is reasonably sure will perform as advertised.
After the nomination process, every editor and licensee receives a ballot listing all the nominated products and technologies. Each voter then selects what he or she believes to be the 10 most significant products of 1993; a voter may pick fewer than 10 if he or she chooses.
Awards of Excellence, Distinction, and Merit are assigned based on the number of votes received. Cut-off points for each award are determined according to how the votes are distributed along a curve.
How BYTE Selected the Best
