Raphael Needleman, Editor in Chief
This special report marks the culmination of
BYTE's twentieth year
of publishing. Our magazine has changed a lot in 20 years. So has the microcomputer industry. And so has the BYTE reader.
Twenty years ago, a devoted cadre of hobbyists and home-brew computer engineers made up the readership of this magazine. We built computers with our bare hands and toggled programs via front-panel switches. A mouse was a rodent, a network was a collection of business acquaintances, and gooey and scuzzy were undesirable attributes of decaying vegetation.
Now we're hurtling toward a future where computers are integral to all strata of business and society. In the pages of BYTE each month, we celebrate and explain our advancin
g technologies. We look to give you the information you need to plan for tomorrow.
While no other group is as resolutely focused on the future as are technologists, it's valuable to look back at the people and achievements that have put us where we are now. Today's technology has evolved from the creative imagination of a core group of visionaries, realized in their companies, their products, and their successes and failures.
This special report is a nostalgia trip; it puts us in the crotchety-old-man role of saying, "Yep, Sonny, I remember when 64 KB was all the memory we'd ever need." Of course, 20 years from now, we'll be peering into history yet again, laughing at the previous generation's lack of horsepower, bandwidth, and integration--and, probably, once again remembering the "old days" with a peculiar fondness.
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tes)
As a reward for hard work, we let the twentieth anniversary editorial crew out of the building. but only for a moment.
Message from the Editor in Chief
