4 ms·

In the early days of the PC revolution one of the best things about PC Mag was it was absolutely gigantic and most of it was advertising- there was still great

In the early days of the PC revolution one of the best things about PC Mag was it was absolutely gigantic and most of it was advertising- there was still great content, but much of the value was in reading the ads.

kqr 4y ago
Wow you were not kidding! > PC goes bi-weekly. Issues are, on average, 400 pages.
- jbullock35 4y ago
  This happened partly because the number of companies making personal computers and basic office software for end users was radically greater than the number that we have today. One PC Magazine cover boasted "PC Labs Tests 55 Word Processors"; another advertised tests of 43 database packages [1]. And no one here who lived through the era – before the mid-1990 – will fail to remember that the number of firms competing to sell personal computers was far greater back then. It seems that we have a lot more concentration of firms in these areas today. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26693006 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26693006
  - lstamour 4y ago
    Another way of looking at it is that the advertising followed eyeballs from print magazines to Google and App Stores. I’m betting if you compare websites like g2 or Capterra to the old magazine ads, you’d find much more choice and selection online. For physical computing goods, even Amazon is basically stuffed full of ads these days. But yes, I do miss reading magazines for the ads ;-)
sosborn 4y ago
Ads were the best because they were the only way to hear about certain products. Computer Shopper holds a special place my heart.
- BMc2020 4y ago
  I think it peaked at over 1100 pages around 1992ish.
- pkaye 4y ago
  I remember when in the Bay Area there were hundreds on independent computer shops. Now there is hardly any left.
  - DoneWithAllThat 4y ago
    Not so much hardly as basically none other than Central.
quartesixte 4y ago
Heard a lot of startups and smaller companies first got their employees often from PC Mag ads. Is this true?
vram22 4y ago
The ads and content were both good, and so were the free PC utilities in it.

kqr 4y ago

Wow you were not kidding! > PC goes bi-weekly. Issues are, on average, 400 pages.

jbullock35 4y ago
This happened partly because the number of companies making personal computers and basic office software for end users was radically greater than the number that we have today. One PC Magazine cover boasted "PC Labs Tests 55 Word Processors"; another advertised tests of 43 database packages [1]. And no one here who lived through the era – before the mid-1990 – will fail to remember that the number of firms competing to sell personal computers was far greater back then. It seems that we have a lot more concentration of firms in these areas today. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26693006 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26693006
- lstamour 4y ago
  Another way of looking at it is that the advertising followed eyeballs from print magazines to Google and App Stores. I’m betting if you compare websites like g2 or Capterra to the old magazine ads, you’d find much more choice and selection online. For physical computing goods, even Amazon is basically stuffed full of ads these days. But yes, I do miss reading magazines for the ads ;-)

sosborn 4y ago

Ads were the best because they were the only way to hear about certain products. Computer Shopper holds a special place my heart.

BMc2020 4y ago
I think it peaked at over 1100 pages around 1992ish.
pkaye 4y ago
I remember when in the Bay Area there were hundreds on independent computer shops. Now there is hardly any left.
- DoneWithAllThat 4y ago
  Not so much hardly as basically none other than Central.

quartesixte 4y ago

Heard a lot of startups and smaller companies first got their employees often from PC Mag ads. Is this true?

vram22 4y ago

The ads and content were both good, and so were the free PC utilities in it.