A celebration of what we've done for 20 years, and a look at a new way of getting BYTE
Dennis Allen, Editor In Chief
As you've already noticed from the logo on our cover and this page, BYTE is beginning its twentieth-anniversary celebration, and we are really excited about that. BYTE is the oldest and most widely respected general computing magazine published--a tribute to all the people who have worked for BYTE during the past 20 years and to all you readers and your insatiable hunger for technological information.
BYTE's twentieth anniversary is the celebration of a journey that started with the very beginning of microcomputers. It has been a journey filled with the trials and tribulations of ill-conceived standards, orphaned platforms, software bugs, and vaporware. But it's also been a journey filled with
real solutions, increasingly faster systems, shrink-wrapped software, and the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
Each of us has a unique tale to tell of our computer experiences--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through it all, though, we've traveled the same road in the pages of BYTE. So that we can commemorate--and sometimes even commiserate with--those experiences, we've devoted a page to ``Blasts from the Past.'' In it are tidbits and memories found in the October issues of BYTE from five, 10, and 15 years ago. With the September issue in 1995, our one-page retrospective will go all the way back to September 1975, when the first issue of BYTE was published.
``Blasts from the Past'' is essential reading. Taking license from Hollywood's copywriters: You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll relive the best moments of computer history when reading this regular feature in BYTE. Each month, these snippets from issues of yesteryear will highlight the most interesting moments of computing. It's on page 41;
check it out.
The celebration will continue with each of the next 12 issues, and you will see the 20-year logo on each of those issues. You can also expect to see some very special articles in BYTE during that period. Everything culminates with our big anniversary issue in September 1995--an issue you won't want to miss.
For now, here's something that many of you have been asking for: BYTE articles on disk. We collected the text from all the significant articles on networking we've published since the beginning of 1993 and placed it onto disk. You can do a search--even with Boolean logic--on every word published to find precisely the information that will help you with your networking problems. The BYTE networking articles on disk are available at a small cost; call (603) 924-2625.
Let me know what you think of it. I would also like to know how you would prefer to see BYTE on disk. Please drop me a note on the Internet. Many readers say they have saved every issue of BYTE since they star
ted subscribing--some of you have every issue back to September 1975. That says a lot about the unique relationship readers have had with BYTE.
I read my first copy of BYTE back in 1976--long before I started working for the magazine. (My first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I, whose RS-232 connection contacts had to be frequently cleaned with a pencil eraser.) Likewise, every technical editor and writer at BYTE was a reader long before coming here. As readers, we appreciate BYTE's heritage. As editors and writers, though, we mostly appreciate you for reading BYTE.
For that reason, I'd like to hear about experiences you've had with computers over the last 20 years. What kind of interesting encounters have you had with computers and software? When did you read your first copy of BYTE? In which direction should the computer industry be headed? And what technology problems ought to be solved next?
Send me E-mail or a letter. It might be neat to share some of your experiences with al
l our readers as we celebrate BYTE's twentieth anniversary. In the meantime, thank you for being part of BYTE's history, and enjoy our little celebration during the next year.
DENNIS ALLEN, EDITOR IN CHIEF
(
dallen@bix.com
)
BYTE
One Phoenix Mill Lane
Peterborough, NH 03458
fax: (603) 924-2550
Two Decades of BYTE
