| BYTE magazine was probably the most influentual microcomputer
magazine in the late 1970s and the 1980s because
of its wide-ranging editorial coverage. Whereas many magazines from the mid-1980s to date have been dedicated to PCs, Windows, or the Mac, BYTE covered
developments in the entire field of "small computers and software."
Inception and early years
BYTE started in 1975, shortly after the first personal computers appeared as kits in the
back of electronics magazines. BYTE was published monthly, with a yearly subscription price of $10. Carl Helmers was the founding
editor and Virginia Green (nee Londner) was the founding publisher. Wayne Green, publisher of a ham radio magazine, injected a
bit of controversy around the founding of BYTE. Wayne Green had been convicted of 12 counts of fraud and perjury in federal
court. While his prison sentence was suspended, he had a large fine to pay. He apparently eyed BYTE as a source of funds and
began claiming it as his. Lawsuits filed regarding Green's statements on the matter were settled with Green paying substantial
sums for his allegedly libelous statements about BYTE's birth and his former wife's ownership of the property. Virginia had
divorced Green about 10 years before she and Helmers started BYTE. Wayne Green was,however,listed as publisher in some early
issues of BYTE.
BYTE was able to attract advertising and articles from many well-knowns, soon-to-be-well-knowns, and
ultimately-to-be-forgottens in the growing microcomputer hobby. Articles in the first issue (September, 1975) included "Which
Microprocessor For You?" by Hal Chamberlin, "Write Your Own Assembler" by Dan Flystra and "Serial Interface" by Don Lancaster (http://www.tinaja.com). MITS, Godbout,
SCELBI, Processor Technology and Sphere were among the advertisers in that issue.
Early articles in BYTE were do-it-yourself electronic or software projects to improve one's computer. A continuing feature was
"Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar," a column in which an electronic engineer, Steve Ciarcia, described small projects to attach to one's
computer (later spun off to become the magazine Circuit Cellar (http://www.circuitcellar.com),
focusing on embedded computer applications). Significant articles in
this period included insertion of disk drives into S-100 computers, publication of source
code for various computer languages (Tiny C, BASIC, assemblers), and breathless coverage of the first microcomputer operating system, CP/M. BYTE ran
Microsoft's first advertisement, as "Micro-Soft," to sell a BASIC interpreter for 8080-based
computers.
Growth and change
In spring of 1979, owner/publisher Virginia Williamson sold the magazine to McGraw-Hill. She remained publisher through 1983
(a total of about 8 years from inception) and subsequently became a vice president of McGraw-Hill Publications Company. Shortly
after the IBM PC was introduced, in 1981, the magazine changed editorial policies. It gradually deemphasized the do-it-yourself
electronics and software articles, and began running product reviews, the first computer magazine to do so. It continued its
wide-ranging coverage of hardware and software, but now it reported "what it does" and "how it works," not "how-to-do-it." The
editorial focus remained on any computer system or software that might be within a typical individual's finances and interest
(centered on home and personal computers).
From 1975 through 1986, BYTE covers frequently featured the artwork of Robert Tinney. Elegant and stylish,
surrealistic and good-humored, these covers made BYTE visually unique. The color scheme was often a dull green that evoked the
color of a printed circuit board. In 1987, the replacement of Tinney paintings with product photographs (together with the
discontinuation of Steve
Ciarcia's "Circuit Cellar" column) marked the end of an era.
BYTE continued to grow. By 1990, it was a monthly about an inch in thickness, a readership of technical professionals, and a
subscription price of $56/year (quite princely). It was the "must-read" magazine of the popular computer magazines. Around 1993,
BYTE began to develop a web presence. It acquired a domain name "byte.com" and began to have discussions and post selected
editorial content.
The end of BYTE
In 1998, still growing, BYTE was purchased by CMP (http://www.cmp.com) Media, a
successful publisher of specialized computer magazines. CMP ceased publication (ending with the July 1998 issue), laid off all
the staff and shut down BYTE's rather large product-testing lab. Subscribers were offered a choice of two of CMP's other
magazines, notably CMP's flagship publication about Windows PCs. Subscribers were shocked, horrified, and angrily speculated on
the Internet that CMP had purchased BYTE to destroy it as a competitor. Publication of BYTE in Germany and Japan continued uninterrupted.
Many of BYTE's columnists migrated their writing to personal web sites. The most popular of these was probably science fiction author Jerry Pournelle's weblog "The View From Chaos Manor (http://www.jerrypournelle.com)" derived from a long-standing column in BYTE, describing
computers from a power-user's point of view. Pournelle's writing is clear, intelligent, colorful, opinionated, and idiosyncratic;
he amuses or offends many people. In 1999, CMP revived BYTE as a web-publication. In
2002, the site became subscription-supported. The wide-ranging editorial policy continues. The site now has numerous
articles on open-source projects, including a continuing column on Linux. Jerry Pournelle was retained to continue writing "The View From Chaos Manor", which from
December 2003 again appears in print in English, in the programming magazine Dr. Dobb's Journal.
External links
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