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Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

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Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#11

Post by pjmlp »

haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

Those ads were the only way to actually know what software and hardware was available to buy, including information related to "open source of the day", shareware, PD,...

Access to BBS was super expensive unless you were lucky to afford a modem, and live on local call distance.

European magazine like Computer Shopper were of similar size and ads ratio.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#12

Post by gramie »

haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

From 1988-91, I was a volunteer teacher in Africa. I lived in a hut without running water or electricity, and I had a subscription to Byte.

There was also almost nothing to read, so when my monthly issue of Byte appeared (2-3 months later than most people would receive it), I devoured that thing. I would read it literally cover to cover, including all those ads, several times.

I wasn't (then) working in IT, so a lot of the content (like Steve Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar) went way over my head but it didn't matter, I read it anyway, often by the light of my kerosene lantern. I learned a huge amount: object-oriented programming, this new thing called the Internet (capitalized back then, and before the WWW), and how Jerry Pournelle was a self-important jerk (but boy, did I envy the toys he got to play with!).

This was the age of big, fold-out Gateway 2000 ads, 20MB hard drives, and Turbo Pascal kicking other compilers' butts.

I would read the magazine, then write out programs (in BASIC, the only language I had learned at that point). On my monthly trips to the capital city I would go to a local NGO and in exchange for helping with their IT issues they would let me play (i.e type out my programs and try to get them working) on their computers.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#14

Post by NordStreamYacht »

haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

I loved the ads. Some of them were quite risqué too.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#15

Post by noosphr »

pjmlp wrote: post #11
haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

Those ads were the only way to actually know what software and hardware was available to buy, including information related to "open source of the day", shareware, PD,... Access to BBS was super expensive unless you were lucky to afford a modem, and live on local call distance. European magazine like Computer Shopper were of similar size and ads ratio.

Ads that are well target aren't jarring. They are just part of the magazine.

I remember reading ads about a specific make of vacuum pumps next to an article with experiments which used them.

Today's ads are so obtrusive because you get toilet seat ads next to an article about general relativity.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#16

Post by shawn_w »

pjmlp wrote: post #11
haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

Those ads were the only way to actually know what software and hardware was available to buy, including information related to "open source of the day", shareware, PD,... Access to BBS was super expensive unless you were lucky to afford a modem, and live on local call distance. European magazine like Computer Shopper were of similar size and ads ratio.

Computer Shopper was in the US too.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#19

Post by SanjayMehta »

smitty1e wrote: post #6
JSR_FDED wrote: post #5

Chaos Manor always seemed like this mystical place to me as a kid. Limitless budget and always messing with hardware and software, whether necessary or not :-)

Pournelle is so missed.

And Larry Niven, but in a different context.

Re: Archive of BYTE magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975

#20

Post by loloquwowndueo »

haunter wrote: post #7

Two things always stood out for me about Byte 1, It's a massive book like magazine if you ever hold one in your hand. Usually more than 300 pages sometimes up to 500, it's not like today's print media at all. I'm not even sure huge magazines like this exist anymore. 2, The amount of ads are insane. Like 1:3 ratio of article:ads if not more. Most of the times the lead articles are interrupted by 3 pages of ads after e…

Most trade magazines of that era were pretty similar in size and number of ads , eg. PC Magazine. Pre-Internet they were one of the only ways to keep up with industry news, topics and products.
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