BYTE Is Coming Back 185
harrymcc writes "More than a dozen years after its death, BYTE magazine is still the most beloved computer magazine of all time — the one that employees of every other tech mag got used to being compared unfavorably with. And now it's being revived, in the form of a new BYTE.com. The new version isn't replicating the focus of the old BYTE — it's focused on the use of consumer tech products in a business environment — and I'm pretty positive it won't feature Robert Tinney's art or epic Jerry Pournelle columns. But I'm glad to see the legendary brand back in use rather than sitting in limbo."
Zombie Byte (Score:4, Insightful)
So, it's going to be yet another useless publication in an already crowded arena? I mean, Dr. Dobbs is pretty much a parody of itself, and there's few print magazines that are worth the time investment to even open the magazine. What's this new iteration going to provide, other than a stark reminder of the mojo that Byte magazine no longer has?
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why? Seriously? If you're not going to bring back the whole point of an original magazine then why dump something on the market that's already covered by other publications. It would be like bringing back Commadore Compute, but without having the programs you could copy, edit, and modify for your own amusement. Argh.
But you know, I honestly think there could be a market for a revamp of things like that. Games/apps/etc, published either online or magazine, where you could show kids and get them involved in things like programming. Hell it worked for me.
"Profesional"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Business managers... (Score:5, Insightful)
it's focused on the use of consumer tech products in a business environment
Business managers should be expelled from the industry and blackballed for decisions like this.
There are hundreds - fucking hundreds of magazines that do this already. When some mossy-backed MBA decides to revive an old brand for a new product that nobody is going to buy, there should be a Guild of Historians who can notify the shareholders that the manager needs to be fired and sued.
Incompetent business decisions are bad enough; bad decisions that have been shown again and again to be bad are criminally negligent.
Re:BYTE (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, since as TFS says, "The new version isn't replicating the focus of the old BYTE — it's focused on the use of consumer tech products in a business environment — and I'm pretty positive it won't feature Robert Tinney's art or epic Jerry Pournelle columns", than I agree with your sentiment. They can BYTE me.
That's a real byte in the ass; the magazine without all the things that made it great is bullshit, just another stupid tech blog featuring electronic bling.
The old BYTE magazine, now that I miss. In depth articles about hardware hacking, software hacking, phreaking, schematic diagrams, source code listings, etc., it was a true nerd's dream, which was why it was the one that "employees of every other tech mag got used to being compared unfavorably with."
I doubt I'll even like this reincarnation. Kind of like a doberman being reincarnated as a chihuahua.
Re:Jerry Pournelle (Score:5, Insightful)
A column laced with nostalgia and in-jokes, refreshing to read and great for the ego (since most people won't get the in-jokes anymore, and if I'm missing any of the in-jokes, I don't know about it).
Recommended.
Re:BYTE (Score:5, Insightful)
Zombie Brands (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a marketing term for this - Zombie Brand. Basically a name has a certain recognition with people and companies want to capitalize on this. Rather than building their own brand equity, a new company wants to borrow this recognition from its target market.
Memorex is an example of this. They were bought and disbanded in the 80's only to later become an Imation brand in name only. Who (over the age of 30) doesn't remember the catch phrase "is it live? or is it Memorex". Imation wanted to tap into this to increase their profitability.
Heck, I could argue that Star Trek: TNG et all are guilty of this as well.
Re:BYTE (Score:3, Insightful)
>>>the magazine without all the things that made it great is bullshit,
Pretty much. Like reviving the Bionic Woman or Knight Rider and then changing the whole premise of the show. Of course that worked in the case of Battlestar Galactica, but when you're already dealing with a good show (or magazine) there's no point abandoning it.
BTW I've never read Byte. At least not that I remember. My main two addictions were RUN for commodore VICs and 64s plus AmigaWorld (essentially the same as RUN but for 32-bit instead of 8-bit machines). I don't think BYTE would have interested me since I never owned an IBM PC at the time, and from what I remember that was it's main focus. Another magazine I remember was COMPUTE's Gazette but never subscribed to it since it didn't feel as polished or useful as RUN.
So: Just curious: What killed the magazine? - I see Jerry Pournelle is still writing his columns. Love his stories; never read his tech columns: http://www.chaosmanorreviews.com/ [chaosmanorreviews.com]
RUN (1984-93) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_magazine [wikipedia.org]
AmigaWorld (archives) http://amr.abime.net/issues_30 [abime.net]
Byte http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_(magazine) [wikipedia.org]
whooptie-fucking-doo (Score:5, Insightful)
About the same as Atari making a comeback, if by comeback you mean it's a meaningless label slapped onto random games by Ubisoft.
RCA HP Zenith, Magnavox, (Score:5, Insightful)
CRC RCA HP Zenith, Magnavox. Once great companies built on top of legendary innovations and engineer. Now hollow shells with only their names to sell products-- usually products distant from their original expertise.
(Anyone even realize that CRC means chemical rubber company-- yet the main product is integral tables)
et TU Byte.
Will they have program listing in Basic, or teach me handshaking on a RS232 port. I suspect not. it's just a gadget review mag.