Re: Last Byte
Jeff Bone (jbone@activerse.com)
Thu, 28 May 1998 17:16:17 -0500
I find myself both saddened and relieved by this. Byte has definitely
had its ups and downs over the 18ish years I've been reading it; it was
at its best at those periodic times when it covered a broad spectrum of
computing issues and technologies, yes, Dick Pountain rocks... and at
its worst when it appeared to be just another PC rag, and a substandard
one at that from time to time. (And btw, I don't give a flying fuck what
problem Jerry Pournelle had running Pax Imperium XXX on his new Yoyodyne
ZippyPentium with a Gravix SuperDeluxe 6D VR Teledildonics Suit this
month! Let the crusty old fart get back to writing bad cold war-ish
military sci-fi.) The quality of reportage has swung wildly back and
forth, and the production quality oscillated wildly as well. (How about
those 20+ page last-minute insert sections with page numbering like
"NFSX1..25"?) It had gotten to the point where I almost dreaded picking
it up to browse through it in the airport newstand each month, afraid of
what I would find.
Even if it weren't the case that monthly print rags about the computer
market are becoming somewhat passe as the rate of change far exceeds
editorial schedulability, I'd say it was about time for this one to
die. I'd kinda been expecting this one for a while.
By the same token, though, it's the passing of a computer culture
icon... Hoist a tall one for 'em tonite, eh?
jb