EDITORIAL

WHAT WILL A.N.A.L.O.G. BE LIKE?
by Mike DesChenes

Welcome back! With this second issue of A.N.A.L.O.G., we begin our search for an identity. Tell you what - first I'll tell you what we would like to see in A.N.A.L.O.G. and then you can tell us what you want. Actually we're mostly interested in what you want, but we don't know what that is until you respond.

We've been receiving quite a bit of mail from you already. And from the looks of it, our audience includes some very talented lay people as well as many of you who are new to the world of computers, And let me say that choosing the Atari was your best move. Some of your comments appear in the "Reader Comment" section. We also hope that our advertisers have responded to your requests for information on their products. (If not let us know.) I would also like to extend a special thanks to the hundreds of you who answered our questionnaire. Your willingness to take the time to tell us about yourselves and your Atari will be very valuable to us in planning our publication.

Our premiere issue of A.N.A.L.O.G. was very well received by most of our readers (not bad for our first attempt). However, a few Atari dealers felt as though they were at a disadvantage because of our position as an Atari users magazine. They feel as though we are taking advantage of our publication by placing ads for Atari products. So in order for us to satisfy everyone involved, we have decided not to use our magazine to this advantage. We will however advertise third party software. This decision has helped us with the answer to the above question: What will A.N.A.L.O.G. be like? We would like you to know us as a support magazine with a mixture of software and hardware reviews, tutorials, program listings, and general information on the Atari.

A.N.A.L.O.G. will be different in many respects. For one thing, we're alone in offering a large number of comprehensive reviews for the Atari system. We believe that if you own or are planning to own an Atari, you need and want a large number of program reviews. If you're in the market for a particular piece of software or hardware, you can be sure that the most authoritative reviews will appear in these pages. You'll also notice that in future issues, we will no longer accept advertisements from retail stores or mail order companies who sell the Atari line of computers and accessories. As a source magazine we will only accept ads from third party companies who produce top of the line software and accessories for the Atari. A.N.A.L.O.G. is an Atari users magazine!

Okay, all of us need software - it may be possible to coax a good deal of it from our readers who would like to get credit for writing some neat programs and in that way help others - plus the not inconsiderable impetus of the payments for articles we publish. A couple of good programs could go a long way towards financing a new piece of equipment. We are also proud to report that all of the programs listed in the last issue were bug free and that most of our readers had little trouble in typing them in. Our biggest question was, "How do you get those funny bent arrows and triangle shapes?" Well, if they looked at Appendix F in the Basic Reference Manual, it would have made life a little easier.

So these are some of our aims - we'll see what happens -and please remember that A.N.A.L.O.G. is a medium for you to communicate with other Atari owners. The more we help each other, the better off everyone will be.

One commercial factor - now that we have pulled our own Atari products ad, it is the advertising that pays for A.N.A.L.O.G.'s publishing costs, not the subscriptions or the counter sales. This means that the more you let our advertisers know that you are getting their message in our pages, the bigger and better your magazine will be. Send for their literature and let them know when you buy something that A.N.A.L.O.G. helped the sale.

 

DOING ANYTHING INTERESTING?

Are you doing anything interesting with your ATARI 400 or 800 Computer? A.N.A.L.O.G. and its readers are curious to know what applications YOU use your computer for. Our reading audience covers all professions from grade school children to educators, USAF pilots, and engineers. We would like to start a column featuring a different user every issue and what they use their ATARI for. Call 617892-3488 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST or write to A.N.A.L.O.G., P.O. Box 23, Worcester, Mass. 01603.

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