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As a brit who didn't encounter DDJ until the pre-internet early 90s, the magazine wasn't just exciting because of the depth of technical subjects that it covere
by andyjohnson0 3y ago
As a brit who didn't encounter DDJ until the pre-internet early 90s, the magazine wasn't just exciting because of the depth of technical subjects that it covered [1], but it also felt exotic. The pages were a weird American size rather than A4-ish, the paper was differently glossy, the writing style was different and more relaxed [1], and the ads hinted at all kinds of stuff happening somewhere on the other side of the ocean. I had similar feelings about Wired and Mondo 2000. I miss them.
[1] Compared to the domestic UK magazines that were available at the time: Computer Shopper. Personal Computer World, etc.
- petercooper 3y ago100% agreed. It's hard to describe to younger people how much a gulf geography provided in the earlier days of tech, although it arguably led to the UK having more of its own tech vibe and scene than it seems to nowadays. All that said, the US magazines did not have the late, great Wilf Hey.. and we did :-)
- pjmlp 3y agoIncluding computer systems, Iberian Penisula was basically a Speccy + Amiga/Atari + PC holdout, C64, game consoles or Apple stuff hardly mattered during those days, other than coming up on computer magazines.
- robterrell 3y agoSame effect for me inside the US, west coast versus east coast. Dr. Dobb's had an incredible run of relevancy, from the 70's through the 90's.
- dagw 3y agoThat really does capture it in a way I haven't thought about in while. Reading DDJ wasn't just about programming (much of it I honestly only, at best, barely understood) , it was also discovering the existence of this cool exotic culture 'out there' of smart people who sounded and acted nothing like anything I'd seen or heard before, and that I desperately wanted to be part of.
- wormius 3y agoI was really young and only knew Pascal from School so all this was far beyond my league. I'd love to go back and see what sort of info I can glean now that I know a lot more. Maybe some of it makes sense now! I never bought any because it was far beyond where I was at, at the time. Of course the tech changes, but at least I was alive for some of it so it won't be as foreign as it would be to a young millenial/gen z person.
- vidarh 3y agoLike with early-ish Wired, there are also specific issues of DDJ that I remember, and specific articles. For so many other magazines I only have a vague notion of the magazine as a whole, or long-running features, but it otherwise all blurs together in a vague mass of nostalgia.
- pjmlp 3y agoI was an avid Computer Shopper consumer, alongside the Speccy and Amiga magazines, not only due to the depth of articles, the typical British humor on the reviews was also quite appealing.
- whitehexagon 3y agoIndeed! I had mine reserved and it was really something to look forward to collecting. I seem to recall Scientific American had some similar allure via some small math/comp-sci article somewhere near the back pages? Pretty sure that's where I learned about cellular automaton, fun times!
- andyjohnson0 3y agoI seem to recall Scientific American had some similar allure via some small math/comp-sci article somewhere near the back pages? Possibly A. K. Dewdney's "Computer Recreations" and "Mathematical Recreations" column [1]? I think it was the first place I came across CAs and the concept of computer viruses. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._K._Dewdney#Computing,_mathematics,_and_science https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._K._Dewdney#Computing,_mathe...
- PaulHoule 3y agoWe had Computer Shopper in the US. If anything it was Computer Shopper that was the end of most of the other computer magazines.