|
''SoftSide Magazine'' is a defunct computer magazine, begun in October 1978 by Roger Robitaille and published by SoftSide Publications of Milford, New Hampshire. ==History== Dedicated to personal computer programming, ''SoftSide'' was a unique publication with articles and line-by-line program listings that users manually typed in to run. A TRS-80 edition was launched in 1978, a version-specific to the Apple II began in January 1980, followed by more individual versons supporting Atari 800 and IBM-PC computer platforms as well as one for BASIC language programmers, ''Prog80''. The platform-specific versions were combined to a single monthly edition in August 1980. In the first few years of publication, users often had problems with the legibility of the dot-matrix program listings. By the time the printout was photographed and printed in the magazine, it had become a bit illegible. One reader commented, "after a short while of typing, you felt like you needed some of the 'coke bottle bottom' eye glasses!" () Subscriptions were offered that included the printed magazine and a cassette tape, and later 5¼-inch floppy disks, to be literally "played" into the input port to load the complete program into the subscriber's personal computer. Like many computer publications of the time, ''SoftSide'' faced considerable financial pressure and competition in an industry-wide shakeout of personal computer publications in 1983. As a result, Robitaille reorganized the publication into two new magazines: ''SoftSide 2.0'' (directed towards the computer user), and ''Code'' (for the programmer), each with its own disk-based featured software included. Neither magazine found sufficient market to become fully established, and the era of ''SoftSide'' ended with its August 1984 issue.(4 ) Softside Magazine very quickly developed a sister company called ''TRS-80 Software Exchange'' (or ''TSE''); a software publisher. Many titles sold by this company were magazine submissions that were either very high quality or written in languages that the magazine did not support (which was mainly various dialects of BASIC). Due to a copyright challenge by Tandy, owner of the TRS-80, the business name was changed to ''The Software Exchange'' or just ''TSE''. Soon, hardware systems and peripherals were available via mail order/phone order from a new branch of the business named ''HardSide''. It is notable that this magazine launched the careers of many programmers, many of which are still active in the profession. It also provided the experience for several entrepreneurs who went on to create companies including MicroMint, The Bottom Line, Campbell Communications, The Gollan Letter. Scott Adams took out the first ad for a commercial software game (''Adventureland'') in ''Softside Magazine'' in 1978. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SoftSide」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|