And 1995, which includes our 20th anniversary issue in September, will be even better
David B. Egan, Publisher, (degan@bix.com)
For the most part, the publisher manages the business interests of a magazine. I worry about such matters as policy, our views on key issues effecting our marketplace, and what kind of resources BYTE needs to continue creating a product that engages your attention. There are very few occasions on which I can talk to you directly in the magazine. This is one of those occasions.
As we begin the new year, let's look back on the one we just finished. From a business perspective, 1994 was a good year for BYTE. While a number of other major computer magazines dropped in total advertising pages and circulation, BYTE surged ahead in year-to-year advertising sales and pos
ted impressive gains in subscription-renewal rates.
The advertising statistic may be of little interest to you as a reader, except as an indicator of the growing importance your attention and opinion have on those who develop the hardware and the software to meet your demanding technology needs. Obviously, the rising renewal rate is of great interest to us. You are the technically astute opinion maker who drives today's purchasing of computer technology, and the fact that you're renewing your subscription tells us that we're successful in our efforts to meet your information needs. In fact, a recent study told us that nearly nine out of every ten of you plan to renew your subscriptions to BYTE. Thanks!
I think we've earned your loyalty through standards-setting editorial work. Our November cover story on the fierce competition between new CPUs is already widely touted as a definitive evaluation and comment on the promise of this leading-edge technology. West Coast Bureau Chief Andy Reinhardt's
comprehensive March cover story on the Internet (``Building the Data Highway'') has earned a number of accolades. And we're still getting feedback -- supportive and otherwise -- to Jon Udell's opinion piece, ``Why IBM Should License Win32,'' in last September's issue.
Delighted as I am to write this, I must also confess that this is a bittersweet moment for BYTE, for this marks Dennis Allen's departure from our magazine. Part of our editorial organization for more than eleven years, Dennis served as our editor-in-chief for the past three. After more than a decade of service, Dennis has decided to move on to new challenges. We'll miss him; and we wish him well. On the page that follows, Dennis writes more eloquently than I about the memories he takes with him. His legacy lives in the pages of this publication, one of the most widely read and respected journals of computing technology in the world.
The younger looking fellow in the
photo
is BYTE's new editor-in-chief, Raphael
Needleman. Rafe brings to his new assignment impressive credentials: He's an accomplished technologist, book author, testing lab manager, and world-class editor. His background includes duties as executive editor of PC/Computing, editor of Corporate Computing (where he and I first worked together), and reviews editor at InfoWorld. I'm delighted to have Rafe join our team. He'll offer BYTE a fresh perspective and will work to make it even more relevant and compelling reading for those of you who turn to our magazine for the authoritative word on computing technology.
I look forward to talking to you in these pages again in our 20th anniversary edition of BYTE, coming up this September. Meanwhile, let us know how we're doing at meeting your information needs. Please write to Rafe and me. We're here to serve you.
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It's Been a Very Good Year
