ferent network infrastructures that now coexist in your companies (LANs,
WANs, voice, the Internet -- even video).
Let's dig into those tracks a bit. We recognize that not every application is networked. But we contend that networked applications are driving all applications development now and for the foreseeable future. The work going on in groupware development -- in fundamental technologies, such as components, Java, and ActiveX -- is a perfect example of that.
Our coverage of networked applications won't be limited to network or programming issues. In classic BYTE style, we'll look at the whole enchilada: what kind of servers and clients to use, how to include multimedia, and other key issues.
We will take the same approach with managing data and network integration. We will be paying more attention to DBMSes, for sure, and not just the PC desktop variety, either. But even if you aren't building a data mart or deploying query tools, you'll find interesting articles about topics such as search engines, storage, and work flow in this track ov
er the coming months.
Similarly, with network integration, those of you who live and breathe this task will find focused articles, such as the one in this issue on integrating IP and ATM. Not a nethead? This is the place where you'll learn about the latest in computer telephony or where digital video stands.
These three topics represent key challenges for the people charged with managing and implementing information technology in the next few years. We know that there are many other vital and interesting topics for us to cover, and we will do so. But we guarantee that BYTE will follow these three tracks consistently for as long as they matter.
Finally, our "Codetalk" column has become "Javatalk." The future of object- and component-based development of networked applications is so vital that it deserves a focal point in BYTE. Java itself, as the most broadly available platform for such networked applications, concentrates many of the key issues that technology faces. This column is not inten
ded as a cheerleading section but rather as a skeptical appraisal of Java and Java tools, as well as of alternatives to Java (ActiveX, for example).
Whenever we change BYTE, many of you wonder whether we are departing from our long-standing traditions. The answer is yes and no. We continue our dedication to examining, in depth, computer technology and its practical applications. I expect we'll still be the quirky, eclectic, occasionally cranky voice that most of you love.
The real change is that we'll be more focused on the wave of communications-intensive computing that began breaking this past year with the Internet. Expect successive waves: new kinds of computer telephony, intelligent networking, and many other wonders.
Some people say Leonardo da Vinci was the last person who could know everything known. Sometimes I think BYTE is the last computer magazine to try to write about all computer technology, from games to supercomputers. Now that our world has become too complex and rich to co
ntain in one magazine, we have to focus.
But we'll continue do that from the technology standpoint, something many other publications have eschewed in favor of pure business or product coverage. We will be proud to be the last one standing when it comes to that dedication.
We'll focus on the wave of communications-intensive computing that began breaking with the Internet.
Mark Schlack, Editor in Chief,
mschlack@bix.com
Tracking New Technologies
