# Computer magazine

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Magazine about computers and related subjects

This article is about computer magazines in general. For the magazine published by IEEE, see [Computer (magazine)](/source/Computer_(magazine)).

An example of computer (and internet) magazine was *[net](/source/Net_(magazine))*, this magazine was initially targeting internet users in general before shifting to [web design](/source/Web_design) until its final issue in June 2020.

**Computer magazines** are about [computers](/source/Computer) and related subjects, such as [networking](/source/Computer_network) and the [Internet](/source/Internet). Most computer [magazines](/source/Magazine) offer (or offered) advice, some offer [programming](/source/Programming_language) [tutorials](/source/Tutorial), reviews of the latest technologies, and advertisements.

## History

### 1940s–1950s

Sources:.[1]

- *[Mathematics of Computation](/source/Mathematics_of_Computation)* established in 1943, articles about computers began to appear from 1946 (Volume 2, Number 15) to the end of 1954.[note 1] [Scientific journal](/source/Scientific_journal).

- *Digital Computer Newsletter*,[2] (1949–1968), founded by [Albert Eugene Smith](/source/Albert_Eugene_Smith).

- *Computers and People*, (1951–1988[3]), was arguably the first computer magazine. It began as *Roster of Organizations in the Field of Automatic Computing Machinery* (1951–1952),[4][5][note 2] and then *The Computing Machinery Field* (1952–1953).[6] It was published by [Edmund Berkeley](/source/Edmund_Berkeley). *Computers and Automation* held the first Computer Art Contest in 1963[7] and maintained a bibliography on computer art starting in 1966.[8] It also included a monthly estimated census of all installed computer systems starting in 1962.[9] In 1973 name changed to *Computers and Automation and People*, and finally in 1975 to *Computers and People.*[3]

- [AFIPS](/source/American_Federation_of_Information_Processing_Societies) conference proceedings[10] (AFIPS [Joint Computer Conferences](/source/Joint_Computer_Conference)) (1952–1987).

- [ACM](/source/Association_for_Computing_Machinery) National Conference proceedings (Proceedings of National Meetings) (1952, 1956–1987, 1997)[11][note 3][1]

- *[IEEE Transactions on Computers](/source/IEEE_Transactions_on_Computers)* from 1952, scientific journal.

- *Computing News* (1953–1963[12]), was an early computer magazine produced by Jackson W. Granholm out of Thousand Oaks, California. The first documented copyright was applied for on September 1, 1954, for issue #36. The magazine was released on the 1st and 15th of each month, which places issue #1 at March 15, 1953. The last documented release was issue #217 on March 15, 1962.[13][14][15]

- *[Journal of the ACM](/source/Journal_of_the_ACM)* from 1954, scientific journal.

- *[Datamation](/source/Datamation)* from 1957, was another early computer and [data processing](/source/Data_processing) magazine. It is still being published as an e-publication on the Internet. Futurist [Donald Prell](/source/Donald_Prell) was its founder.

- *[Information and Computation](/source/Information_and_Computation)* from 1957, scientific journal.

- *[IBM Journal of Research and Development](/source/IBM_Journal_of_Research_and_Development)* from 1957, scientific journal.

- *[Communications of the ACM](/source/Communications_of_the_ACM)* from 1958, mix of [science magazine](/source/List_of_science_magazines), [trade magazine](/source/Trade_magazine), and a scientific journal

- *[The Computer Journal](/source/The_Computer_Journal)* from 1958, scientific journal.

### 1960s–1970s

- *ACS Newsletter* (1966–1976), Amateur Computer Society newsletter.[16][17]

- *[Computerworld](/source/Computerworld)* (1967)

- *[People's Computer Company Newsletter](/source/People's_Computer_Company_Newsletter)* (1972–1981)

- *[Amateur Computer Club](/source/Amateur_Computer_Club) Newsletter* (ACCN; 1973–)

- *[Dr. Dobb's Journal](/source/Dr._Dobb's_Journal)* (1976–2014) was the first [microcomputer](/source/Microcomputer) magazine to focus on [software](/source/Software), rather than [hardware](/source/Computer_hardware).

### 1980s

In the 1980s, computer magazines skewed their content towards the [hobbyist](/source/Hobbyist) end of the then-[microcomputer](/source/Microcomputer) market, and used to contain [type-in programs](/source/Type-in_program), but these have gone out of fashion. The first magazine devoted to this class of computers was *[Creative Computing](/source/Creative_Computing)*. *[Byte](/source/Byte_(magazine))* was an influential technical journal that published until the 1990s.

In 1983, an average of one new computer magazine appeared each week.[18] By late that year more than 200 existed. Their numbers and size grew rapidly with the industry they covered, and *BYTE* and *[80 Micro](/source/80_Micro)* were among the three thickest magazines of any kind per issue.[19] *[Compute!](/source/Compute!)*'s editor in chief reported in the December 1983 issue that "all of our previous records are being broken: largest number of pages, largest-number of four-color advertising pages, largest number of printing pages, and the largest number of editorial pages".[20]

By that year the [IBM PC](/source/IBM_PC)'s success influenced the industry, with two of the four computer magazines with the most advertising pages in February 1983 devoted to it.[21] Computers were the only industry with product-specific magazines, like *80 Micro*, *[PC Magazine](/source/PC_Magazine)*, and *[Macworld](/source/Macworld)*; their editors vowed to impartially cover their computers whether or not doing so hurt their readers' and advertisers' market, while claiming that their rivals pandered to advertisers by only publishing positive news.[22]

*BYTE,* in March 1984, apologized for publishing articles by authors with promotional material for companies without describing them as such, and in April suggested that other magazines adopt its rules of conduct for writers, such as prohibiting employees from accepting gifts or discounts.

*[InfoWorld](/source/InfoWorld)* stated in June that many of the "150 or so" industry magazines published articles without clearly identifying authors' [affiliations](/source/Affiliate_marketing) and [conflicts of interest](/source/Conflicts_of_interest).

Around 1985, many magazines ended. However, as their number exceeded the amount of available advertising revenue despite revenue in the first half of the year five times that of the same period in 1982. Consumers typically bought computer magazines more for advertising than articles, which benefited already leading journals like *BYTE* and *PC Magazine* and hurt weaker ones. Also affecting magazines was the computer industry's economic difficulties, including the [video game crash of 1983](/source/Video_game_crash_of_1983), which badly hurt the home-computer market.

[Dan Gutman](/source/Dan_Gutman), the founder of *Computer Games*, recalled in 1987 that "the computer games industry crashed and burned like a bad night of *[Flight Simulator](/source/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator)*—with my magazine on the runway". *[Antic](/source/Antic_(magazine))*'s advertising sales declined by 50% in 90 days, *Compute!*'s number of pages declined from 392 in December 1983 to 160 ten months later, and *Compute!* and *[Compute!'s Gazette](/source/Compute!'s_Gazette)*'s publisher assured readers in an editorial that his company "is and continues to be quite successful ... even during these particularly difficult times in the industry". *[Computer Gaming World](/source/Computer_Gaming_World)* stated in 1988 that it was the only one of the 18 color magazines that covered computer games in 1983 to survive the crash. *Compute!* similarly stated that year that it was the only general-interest survivor of about 150 consumer-computing magazines published in 1983.

Some computer magazines in the 1980s and 1990s were issued only on disk (or cassette tape, or CD-ROM) with no printed counterpart; such publications are collectively (though somewhat inaccurately) known as *[disk magazines](/source/Disk_magazine)* and are [listed separately](/source/List_of_disk_magazines).

### 1990s

In some ways, the heyday of printed computer magazines was a period during the 1990s. During this period, a large number of computer manufacturers took out [advertisements](/source/Advertisement) in computer magazines, so they became quite thick and could afford to carry quite a number of articles in each issue. *[Computer Shopper](/source/Computer_Shopper_(UK_magazine))* was a good example of this trend.

Some printed computer magazines used to include [covermount](/source/Covermount) [floppy disks](/source/Floppy_disk), [CDs](/source/Compact_disc), or other media as inserts; they typically contained [software](/source/Software), [demos](/source/Demoware), and electronic versions of the print issue.

### 2000s–2010s

However, with the rise in popularity of the [Internet](/source/Internet), many computer magazines went bankrupt or transitioned to an online-only existence. Exceptions include *[Wired](/source/Wired_magazine)*, which is more of a technology magazine than a computer magazine.

## List of computer magazines

Main article: [List of computer magazines](/source/List_of_computer_magazines)

## Notable regular contributors to print computer magazines

Name Occupation Magazines (years of regular contributions) Ken Arnold Programmer Unix Review (1980s–1990s) Charlie Brooker TV comedian, TV reviewer, newspaper columnist PC Zone (1990s) Orson Scott Card Science fiction author Ahoy!, Compute! Chris Crawford Game designer BYTE, Computer Gaming World Pamela Jones Paralegal, legal blogger Linux User, others Stan Kelly-Bootle Writer, consultant, programmer, songwriter UNIX Review (1984–2000), OS/2 Magazine, Software Development Nicholas Negroponte Professor, investor Wired magazine (1993–1998) Jerry Pournelle Science fiction author BYTE (1980–2006) Rhianna Pratchett Game scriptwriter, journalist PC Zone Bruce Schneier Security specialist, writer, cryptographer Wired magazine Charles Stross Science fiction and fantasy author Computer Shopper (UK magazine) (1994–2004) Don Lancaster Writer, consultant, programmer Dr. Dobb's Journal, Byte, etc.

## See also

- [Online magazine](/source/Online_magazine)

- [Magazine](/source/Magazine)

- [Online newspaper](/source/Online_newspaper)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** In 1955, the "Automatic Computing Machinery" column was removed, but the full-length articles about computers still continued to appear with varying frequency.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Alternative title: *Roster of Organizations in the Computing Machinery Field*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** First published in 1952, regular publication started in 1964 (*Publications in computing: an informal review*, p. 494).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_1-1) Weiss, Eric A. (1972-07-01). ["Publications in computing: an informal review"](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F361454.361456). *Communications of the ACM*. **15** (7): 491–497. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/361454.361456](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F361454.361456). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0001-0782](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0001-0782). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [27504743](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:27504743).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Cyber Brief: Digital Computer Newsletter — 1949–1968 | National Security Archive"](https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/cyber-vault/2018-10-19/cyber-brief-digital-computer-newsletter-1949-1968). *nsarchive.gwu.edu*. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_4-1) Sternadori, Miglena; Holmes, Tim (2020). [*The Handbook of Magazine Studies*](https://books.google.com/books?id=c7rLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7). John Wiley & Sons. p. 7. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-119-15152-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-119-15152-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [*The Computing Machinery Field*](https://books.google.com/books?id=83byXmCyv0UC&q=%22Roster+of+Organizations+in+the+Field+of+Automatic+Computing+Machinery%22). Edmund C. Berkeley and Associates. 1953. p. 7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [*Roster of Organizations in the Field of Automatic Computing Machinery 1952-07-20: Vol 1 Iss 3*](http://archive.org/details/sim_computers-and-people_1952-07-20_1_3). Berkeley Enterprises. 1952-07-20.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Computers and People"](https://books.google.com/books?id=KC8-AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Roster+of+Organizations+in+the+Computing+Machinery+Field%22+1953). Berkeley Enterprises. 1957: 111. {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Computer Art Contest"](http://dada.compart-bremen.de/item/Award/11). *compArt daDA*. Retrieved 2023-06-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [The BITSAVERS.ORG Documents Library: Computers and Automation Journal](https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersAndAutomation&tab=about)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [*computersAndAutomation :: Computer Census 1962-74*](https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersArCensus196274_16451676). 1962–1974.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["AFIPS conference proceedings"](https://onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au/permalink/61UWA_INST/1vk1d8f/alma9957569902101). *onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au*. Retrieved 2023-06-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["ACM-NATIONAL-CONFERENCE Conference - Proceedings"](https://dl.acm.org/conference/acm-national-conference/proceedings). *ACM Digital Library*. Retrieved 2023-06-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Limited, National Computing Centre (1970). [*A World List of Computer Periodicals*](https://books.google.com/books?id=o5FjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Computing+News%22). National Computing Centre. p. 40. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-85012-029-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-85012-029-5). {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: |last= has generic name ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#generic_name))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Lost Media Wiki article containing U.S Copyright Office catalog scans](https://www.lostmediawiki.com/Computing_News_(partially_found_early_computer_magazine/newsletter;_1950s-1960s))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Computing News Issue #216 from March 1st, 1962](https://archive.org/details/computing-news-number-216)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Computing News Issue #217 from March 15th, 1962](https://archive.org/details/computing-news-number-217)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Amateur Computer Society newsletter, 1966-1976](https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/03/102654910-05-01-acc.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Amateur Computer Society Newsletter | 102654910 | Computer History Museum"](http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102654910). *www.computerhistory.org*. Claims to be "the first hobby-computer publication in the world."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-berg19840908_21-0)** Berg, Eric N. (8 September 1984). ["The Computer Magazine Glut"](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/08/business/the-computer-magazine-glut.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 3 July 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nyt19831109_22-0)** ["Boom in Computer Magazines"](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/09/business/boom-in-computer-magazines.html). *The New York Times*. 9 November 1983. Retrieved 25 February 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-lock198312_23-0)** Lock, Robert (December 1983). ["Editor's Notes"](https://archive.org/stream/1983-12-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_043_1983_Dec#page/n7/mode/2up). *Compute!*. p. 6.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pollack19830327_24-0)** Pollack, Andrew (1983-03-27). ["Big I.B.M. Has Done It Again"](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/business/big-ibm-has-done-it-again.html). *The New York Times*. p. Section 3, Page 1. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2020-03-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bartimo19841210_25-0)** Bartimo, Jim (10 December 1984). ["Magazines Woo Users"](https://books.google.com/books?id=si4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35). *InfoWorld*. pp. 35–36. Retrieved 14 March 2011.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Computer magazine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_magazine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_magazine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.