Byte
Byte Vol 1. No. 4, cover dated December 1975
Editor	Virginia Williamson
Categories	Computer magazines
Frequency	Monthly
First issue	September 1975
Final issue — Number	July 1998
Company	CMP Media
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	www.byte.com
ISSN	0360-5280

Byte magazine was an influential microcomputer magazine in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, because of its wide-ranging editorial coverage. Whereas many magazines from the mid-1980s had been dedicated to the MS-DOS (PC) platform or the Mac, mostly from a business user's perspective, Byte covered developments in the entire field of "small computers and software", and sometimes included in-depth features on other computing fields as well, such as supercomputers and high-reliability computing. Image File history File linksMetadata Byte_Front_Cover_December_1975. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Byte_Front_Cover_December_1975. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of magazines marketed primarily for computer and technology enthusiasts or users. ... CMP Media LLC is a business-to-business multimedia company that provides information and integrated marketing services to technology and healthcare professionals worldwide. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... The Commodore 64 was one of the most popular microcomputers of its era, and is the best selling model of home computer of all time. ... Computer magazines are about computers and related subjects, such as networking and the Internet. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... For other uses, see Supercomputer (disambiguation). ...

Byte started in 1975, shortly after the first personal computers appeared as kits advertised in the back of electronics magazines. Byte was published monthly, with a yearly subscription price of $10. The is a list of early microcomputers encompassing the microprocessor-based development system/hobbyist microcomputers being made and sold as DIY kits or pre-built machines in relatively small numbers in the mid-1970s, before the advent of the later, simpler to operate, significantly hotter-selling home computers (listed in...

How Byte started

In 1975 Wayne Green was the Editor/Publisher of 73 (an amateur radio magazine) and his ex-wife, Virginia Londner Green, was the Business Manager of 73 Inc. In the August 1975 issue of 73 magazine Wayne's editorial column started with this item. "The response to computer-type articles in 73 has been so enthusiastic that we here in Peterborough got carried away. On May 25th we made a deal with the publisher of a small (400 circulation) computer hobby magazine to take over as editor of a new publication which would start in August ... BYTE."^[1] 73 Magazine (also known as 73 Amateur Radio Today) (OCLC 22239204) was a U.S.-based amateur radio magazine that was published from 1960 to 2003. ... Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ...

The new editor was Carl Helmers and in the first anniversary issue he wrote: "BYTE began with its first issue dated September 1975. That first issue was assembled from scratch in seven weeks of hectic activity starting May 25 1975."

The new magazine, Byte, was published by a new company, Green Publishing. The first 4 issues were produced in the offices of 73 and Wayne Green was listed as the publisher. One day in November 1975 Wayne came to work and found that the Byte magazine staff had moved out and taken the January issue with them.^[2] The January 1976 issue has Virginia Green listed as Publisher.

The February 1976 issue of Byte has a short story about the move. "After a start which reads like a romantic light opera with an episode or two reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, BYTE magazine finally has moved into separate offices of its own."

Wayne Green was not happy about losing Byte magazine so he was going to start a new one called Kilobyte. Byte quickly trademarked KILOBYTE as a cartoon series in Byte magazine. The new magazine was called Kilobaud. Wayne's name was never mentioned in Byte magazine for over 10 years. There was competition and animosity between Byte Publications and 73 Inc. but both remained in the small town of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Kilobaud Microcomputing magazine was a magazine dedicated to the computer homebrew hobbyists from the end of the 1970s until the beginning of the 1980s. ... Location in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Coordinates: Country United States State New Hampshire County Hillsborough County Incorporated 1760  - Board of Selectmen Joe Byk, Chairman Gene Kellogg Elizabeth Thomas Area    - Town  38. ...

The early years

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 Fylstra and Serial Interface by Don Lancaster. Advertisements from Godbout, MITS, Processor Technology, SCELBI, and Sphere appear, among others. Don Lancaster is an author, inventor, and microcomputer pioneer, best known for his magazine columns. ... Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an Albuquerque, New Mexico company founded in 1968 by Ed Roberts. ... Processor Technology Corporation was a microcomputer company founded in the mid-1970s. ...

Early articles in Byte were do-it-yourself electronic or software projects to improve small computers. A continuing feature was Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar, a column in which electronic engineer Steve Ciarcia described small projects to modify or attach to a computer (later spun off to become the magazine Circuit Cellar, focusing on embedded computer applications). Significant articles in this period included the Kansas City standard for data storage on audio tape, 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. Steve Ciarcia is an Embedded Control Systems guru. ... A router, an example of an embedded system. ... The Kansas City standard (abbreviated KCS) for storage of digital (micro)computer data on an ordinary compact audio cassette is also known as the BYTE standard, from its connection with BYTE magazine, or the Processor Technology CUTS (PT Computer Users Tape Standard). ... For other uses, see S-100. ... C is a general-purpose, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. ... BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of high-level programming languages. ... See the terminology section, below, regarding inconsistent use of the terms assembly and assembler. ... An operating system (OS) is a software that manages computer resources and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... CP/M (Command Processor for Microcomputers) was an operating system for Intel 8080/85 and Zilog Z80 based microcomputers. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Altair BASIC, in its first incarnation, MITS 4K BASIC, was a true milestone in software history — the first programming language for the worlds first truly personal computer, the MITS Altair 8800. ... AMD clone NEC 8080AF (2nd-source). ...

Growth and change

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (January 2008)

The front cover of the April 1981 issue of Byte (Vol 6. No. 4), "Future Computers?", US$2.50

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). Byte magazine front cover - April 1981 This work is copyrighted. ... Byte magazine front cover - April 1981 This work is copyrighted. ... The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ... Children playing on a Amstrad CPC 464 in the 1980s. ...

From 1975 through 1986, Byte covers usually featured the artwork of Robert Tinney. 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's paintings with product photographs (together with the discontinuation of Steve Ciarcia's "Circuit Cellar" column) marked the refocusing of the magazine from technical people to management.

Around 1985, Byte started its own online service called BIX (Byte Information eXchange) which was a text only BBS style site running on the CoSy conferencing software. McGraw-Hill also used the same software internally.^{[citation needed]} Access was via local dial-in or for additional hourly charges, the Tymnet X.25 network. Monthly rates were $13/month for the account and $1/hour for X.25 access. Unlike Compuserve, access at higher speeds was not surcharged. Many of the Byte staff were active on the service. Later, gateways permitted email communication outside the system. BBS redirects here. ... Look up cosy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Italic textTymnet was an international data communications network headquartered in San Jose, CA that utilized circuit switched technology and used X.25, SNA/SDLC, BSC interfaces to connect host computers (servers)at thousands of large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. ... X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for wide area networks using leased lines, the phone or ISDN system as the networking hardware. ... CompuServe, (in full, CompuServe Information Services, or CIS), was the first major commercial online service in the United States. ... In telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meanings: In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols. ... E-mail, or email, is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. ...

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 pricey). It was the "must-read" magazine of the popular computer magazines. Around 1993, Byte began to develop a web presence. It acquired domain name byte.com and began to have discussions and post selected editorial content. The World Wide Web and WWW redirect here. ...

Likewise, it has developed a number of national sister editions; in Japan, in Germany as Chip, and the latest Byte edition in Arabic, published in Jordan.

The controversial end of Byte

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (January 2008)

In 1998, still growing, Byte was purchased by CMP 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 and 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. The Arabic edition ended abruptly.

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" 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-only publication. In 2002, the site became subscription-supported. The wide-ranging editorial policy continues. The site features numerous articles on open-source projects, including a continuing column on Linux by Moshe Bar. 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. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Jerry Eugene Pournelle, Ph. ... A weblog (now more commonly known as a blog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally, but not always, in reverse chronological order). ... The subscription business model is a business model that was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by a myriad of businesses and websites. ... For other uses, see Open source (disambiguation). ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... Moshe Bar is the founder, main developer and project manager of openMosix. ... Dr. Dobbs Journal (DDJ) is a monthly journal published in the United States by CMP Media. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Books

• Ranade, Jay; Nash, Alan (1993). The Best of Byte. McGraw-Hill Companies. 641 pp. ISBN 0-07-051344-9.

Jay Ranade, a bestselling computer book author and information technology (IT) management consultant, is also a World Power Breaking Champion. ...

External links

• BYTE.com (subscription-supported)
• BYTE Turkey (Only active monthly printed BYTE magazine) (subscription-supported)
• Tom's Unofficial BYTE FAQ:The Death of BYTE Magazine – By former Byte journalist Tom R. Halfhill, on his personal website
• HomeLib On-line index for early issues of Byte
• Quickerwit.com On-line reviews index to Byte from 1994 to 1998