jal@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu (02/22/89)
I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April issue will be their last. Just thought some folks would like to know about the demise of this publication. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I program ... therefore I am. John Lefor University of Rochester Dept of E. Engineering 716-275-8265 jal@ee.rochester.edu uunet!ur-valhalla!jal
nfs@notecnirp.Princeton.EDU (Norbert Schlenker) (02/22/89)
In article <1826@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu> jal@ee.rochester.edu (John Lefor) writes: > >I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the >upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April >issue will be their last. > >Just thought some folks would like to know about the demise of >this publication. Isn't that nice? I wonder whether I'll get the unused portion of my subscription payment (i.e. about 20 out of 24 months) back.
smvorkoetter@watmum.waterloo.edu (Stefan M. Vorkoetter) (02/22/89)
In article <1826@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu> jal@ee.rochester.edu (John Lefor) writes: >I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the >upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April >issue will be their last. Does anyone know if they went bankrupt, or are just quitting? I wonder if I will be refunded the balance of my subscription? My opinion is that PC Tech has really gone downhill in the last year or so. Comments? Stefan Vorkoetter smvorkoetter@watmum.waterloo.edu
rht@smsdpg.uu.net (Randy Thompson) (02/23/89)
From article <1826@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu>, by jal@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu: > > I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the > upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April > issue will be their last. > > Just thought some folks would like to know about the demise of > this publication. Please! Say its not so!! It is a shame if this is true and I, for one, will miss this publication! (And what about my subscription that I just bought?) <sigh> randy
bill@ssbn.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy) (02/23/89)
With nothing (other than sympathy for no article) towards John, this
is the system working perfectly. I was a charter subscriber to PC
Tech Journal but it skidded steadily from the start. Just last week
I went through my back issues, saved three, discarded the rest. It
was a dandy idea but they lost/forgot something along the way.
--
Bill Kennedy usenet {killer,att,cs.utexas.edu,sun!daver}!ssbn!bill
internet bill@ssbn.WLK.COMdhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) (02/24/89)
In article <1144@ssbn.WLK.COM> bill@ssbn.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy) writes: >I was a charter subscriber to PC >Tech Journal but it skidded steadily from the start. An eagerness to jump on each new IBM bandwagon at the expense of what people were *really* using was the problem. Every time PC Tech Journal mentioned a non-IBM machine, it did so with an apologetic tone (as if it's a sin to use something without IBM's name on it). -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP: <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi ARPA: bsu-cs!dhesi@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (02/24/89)
This is astounding news if true. PC Tech Journal was always one of Z-D's most profitable magazines. Cheap to produce with plenty of ad revenue. About a year and a half ago, they decided to move from a techie focus to what they called the "system integrator" focus. Other tech magazines have made similar moves. They made the move because they thought that was where the money was. An Editor at PC Tech Journal that I know quit because of that move. Interesting if they were wrong. -- Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. -- Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473
hstroma@hubcap.UUCP (Hepburn M. Stroman) (02/24/89)
From article <1144@ssbn.WLK.COM>, by bill@ssbn.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy): > With nothing (other than sympathy for no article) towards John, this > is the system working perfectly. I was a charter subscriber to PC > Tech Journal but it skidded steadily from the start. Just last week > I went through my back issues, saved three, discarded the rest. It > was a dandy idea but they lost/forgot something along the way. So we lost PCTech. In reality, the magazine lost its focus long ago; therefore I cannot mourn its passing. A sadder loss was Borland's _Turbo Technix_, a well-written, technical publication doomed by short- sighted penny-pinchers at Borland. Oh well, at least we still have DDJ. -Hepburn (hstroma@hubcap.clemson.edu)
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (02/24/89)
In article <15074@princeton.Princeton.EDU> nfs@notecnirp.UUCP (Norbert Schlenker) writes: | Isn't that nice? I wonder whether I'll get the unused portion of | my subscription payment (i.e. about 20 out of 24 months) back. I would make you a sizable bet you won;t get your money back. You may very well get a subscription to a magazine of *their* choice for the remaining time, or part of it. As various magazines have dies on me I've gotten great replacements like _High Times_ and _Quilting Today_ as replacements. Let us know hoe you make out, hopefully they'll give you something useful. -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
todd@stiatl.UUCP (Todd Merriman) (02/24/89)
In article <4530@hubcap.UUCP> hstroma@hubcap.UUCP (Hepburn M. Stroman) writes: >So we lost PC-Tech..... >At least we still have DDJ.... > As far as I'm concerned, we also lost DDJ to crass commercialism several years ago. ...!gatech!stiatl!todd Todd Merriman 404-377-8638 Atlanta, GA
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (02/24/89)
-I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the -upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April -issue will be their last. Now _that's_ an April Fools' Joke!
jls@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Jerome Schneider) (02/24/89)
PC Tech Journal was about half there, it seems. The other rag about half there is MicroSoft Systems Journal. If you could take the OS/2 chest pounding out of MSJ and the Integrators Research Dept out of PCTJ, the remaining bit of technical info would make a good basis for a magazine. (but then I'm not a publisher or editor...) -- Jerome Schneider UUCP: killer!jls.DALLAS.TX.US (guest account) Aspen Technology Group Ft. Collins, CO Voice: (303) 484-8466
peter@apexepa.UUCP (Peter Palij) (02/24/89)
In article <5865@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes: >An eagerness to jump on each new IBM bandwagon at the expense of what >people were *really* using was the problem. Every time PC Tech Journal >mentioned a non-IBM machine, it did so with an apologetic tone (as if >it's a sin to use something without IBM's name on it). Apparently (WSJ, 23-Feb) Businessland and Compaq have parted ways over numerous corporate issues, reportedly the biggest one being Businessland's insistance that Compaq provide a MicroChannel product compatible with those world-burning PS machines. -- ----------------- Peter Palij uunet!apexepa!peter Apex Software Corporation peter@apexepa.uucp Phone: (412) 681-4343
kevinf@infmx.UUCP (Kevin Franden) (02/25/89)
In article <3375@stiatl.UUCP>, todd@stiatl.UUCP (Todd Merriman) writes: > In article <4530@hubcap.UUCP> hstroma@hubcap.UUCP (Hepburn M. Stroman) writes: > >So we lost PC-Tech..... > >At least we still have DDJ.... > > > > As far as I'm concerned, we also lost DDJ to crass > commercialism several years ago. > Ya, and it looks like were gonna loose Computer Language to Madison Ave reletively quickly too.... sigh. K. Franden Informix Software Inc. disclaimer("I said what I said and not my employer");
hhg1@bunny.UUCP (Hallett German) (02/25/89)
What about Micro Cornucopia? Isn't that technical enough for you? and also unknown? Hal German BBS Mu 508-263-1499 GTE laboratories Waltham,Ma "Programmer Terrorist"
grig8348@fredonia.UUCP (LoyEllen Griggs) (02/25/89)
In article <8228@watcgl.waterloo.edu> smvorkoetter@watmum.waterloo.edu (Stefan M. Vorkoetter) writes: ;In article <1826@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu> jal@ee.rochester.edu (John Lefor) writes: ;>I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the ;>upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April ;>issue will be their last. ;Does anyone know if they went bankrupt, or are just quitting? I wonder if ;I will be refunded the balance of my subscription? My opinion is that PC Tech ;has really gone downhill in the last year or so. Comments? ; I wonder if anyone out there can actually check this out, since the ad exec from PC Tech just called us last month to solicit advertising for the SUMMER. Not to mention that I know officially the magazine still has subscribers in 6 digits and just ran a huge subscription drive in the last few months. I'm not entirely sure about this closing down, I'll take it with a grain of salt until I hear more. My opinion is not that PC tech has gone downhill, but that the rag--like so many computer publications--tried to be all things to all users provided those users were willing to spend money. As things go, this destroys the focus, looses the original readership, and ends up pleasing no one. For a pleasant alternative to the typical story, see TUG lines, an itty-bitty newsletter not related to Borland, but all about their products. It may not be hacker wonderful, but it does keep its focus. Other computer rags could learn a few lessons about when to _go for_ a narrow topic range. -- "..we move always, if not in the dark, in a twilight, with imperfect vision, constantly mistaking one object for another, imagining distant obstacles where none exist, and unaware of some fatal menace close at hand." -- T.S. Eliot LoyEllen | fredonia!grig8348@cs.buffalo.edu | watmath!sunybcs!fredonia!grig8348
jrv@siemens.UUCP (James R Vallino) (02/25/89)
In article <1424@fredonia.UUCP> grig8348@fredonia.UUCP (LoyEllen Griggs) writes: [news about PC Tech dying deleted] >I wonder if anyone out there can actually check this out, since the ad exec >from PC Tech just called us last month to solicit advertising for the SUMMER. I have done a bunch of work for PC Tech and was currently working on something. My editor called me last Thursday to tell me to call it quits. The magazine's office will be on skeleton staff as of March 1. He said it was "resume city" at the copying machine. He said that while there were some signs of problems no one expected such a drastic solution. It went down real fast. I am not sure that I will truly mourn the passing of PC Tech. It's focus shifted about a year ago away from hard core techie stuff. At the authors diner during Spring/COMDEX last year there was a bunch of discussion about the change in editorial focus. It was a move to what was perceived as the interest of the readership. From that point the proposals which I made were accepted by my editors but rejected during overall editorial reviews. The magazine was no longer interested in the same things which interested me. -- Jim Vallino Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ jrv@siemens.siemens.com princeton!siemens!jrv (609) 734-3331
gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) (03/01/89)
In article <1826@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu>, jal@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu writes: > > I was asked by the PC Tech Journal to write an article for the > upcoming May or June issue. I just found out that the April > issue will be their last. > > Just thought some folks would like to know about the demise of > this publication. > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > I program ... therefore I am. > > John Lefor University of Rochester Dept of E. Engineering > 716-275-8265 jal@ee.rochester.edu uunet!ur-valhalla!jal I am also one of the many folks to be burned if the publishers of PC Tech Journal don't return the unused $$$ of my subscription. Seems I've been burned a lot by magazines of late, so much so that recent hassles cause me to be careful about long-term renewals. Take PC Tech Journal. Six months before my 1-year subscription had run out, I got my renewal request!! And they kept coming, as if the world would end unless I got my money in RIGHT AWAY. When they offered a free utilities diskette if I renewed, I finally gave in. But I never got the diskette till I complained. And I continued to get those ever-arriving requests for renewal, until I started to return the darn things in their postage paid envelopes! (Could it be that according to market research, some people loose track of subscriptions and may sometimes mistakenly pay twice if they are falsely badgered?) But I don't blame PC Tech Journal alone. All the tech mags seem to be requesting renewal way ahead of time. And of course they want you to renew for as many years ($$) as they can get. If you are a business living on the edge, as mags seem to be as they come and go on the newstand, you get all the money you can up front! By the way, anyone out there subscribe to Micro/Systems and then after two issues suddenly receive LAN Technologies? Wonderful, except I wanted to know about PCs, not about LANs. Of course, I guess that beats Mobile-Home America or Popular Bass Fishing. When I ponder all these shenanigans, I must wonder how much of this is honest blundering due to the sheer bureaucracy of publication distribution and how much is snake-oil: get that money and the customer be damned. Certainly, if I were to go to a store and order a book and the bookstore gave me another one on another subject or only gave me one book of a five book set, that bookstore would be liable for breach of contract or some such consumer protection. So why not magazine publishers?
link@stew.ssl.berkeley.edu (Richard Link) (03/01/89)
In article <377@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM> gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) writes: > >I am also one of the many folks to be burned if the publishers of PC >Tech Journal don't return the unused $$$ of my subscription. > >Take PC Tech Journal. Six months before my 1-year subscription had >run out, I got my renewal request!! Yeah! My subscription ended with the February issue. I got my last renewal notice 2 weeks ago!!!!! How much do you want to bet that they knew they were going to cancel *before* I got the renewal notice? I don't subscribe to anything except National Geographic anymore. Rick Link link@ssl.berkeley.edu
Ralf.Brown@B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (03/01/89)
In article <20998@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, link@stew.ssl.berkeley.edu (Richard Link) writes: }In article <377@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM> gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) writes: }>I am also one of the many folks to be burned if the publishers of PC }>Tech Journal don't return the unused $$$ of my subscription. } }Yeah! My subscription ended with the February issue. I got my last }renewal notice 2 weeks ago!!!!! How much do you want to bet that they }knew they were going to cancel *before* I got the renewal notice? The March issue contains at least half a dozen subscription request cards.... -- UUCP: {ucbvax,harvard}!cs.cmu.edu!ralf -=-=-=- Voice: (412) 268-3053 (school) ARPA: ralf@cs.cmu.edu BIT: ralf%cs.cmu.edu@CMUCCVMA FIDO: Ralf Brown 1:129/31 Disclaimer? I claimed something? You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd.
root@yale.UUCP (Celray Stalk) (03/01/89)
It's sounding a lot like snake oil to me. I recall now that when I started my subscription (about a year ago) I got two issues back to back and about a week later got a "renew now and save" letter! I wonder if even back then they were planning to kill the mag and were trying to get all they could before then. Just yesterday the last issue in my subscription (lucked out!), with a big red cover page warning me that this was my last issue and I'd better send in my renewal now or I wouldn't receive any more issues. In light of the fact that they don't give refunds for unused portions of subscriptions if the magazine goes under, I'd say that it might be time for all folks being ripped of by Ziff Davis to get together for a class action suit. They are apparently knowingly conducting fraudulant business practices. Anyone out there have a lawyer in the family?! I have (or at least had) nothing against Ziff Davis (they _are_ the publisher, aren't they?...I don't have an issue here). I think PC Mag and PC Week are very good magazines. It's too bad they're quickly gettings themselves a bad reputation. --Peter ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Peter Baer Galvin (203)432-1254 Senior Systems Programmer, Yale Univ. C.S. galvin-peter@cs.yale.edu 51 Prospect St, P.O.Box 2158, Yale Station ucbvax!decvax!yale!galvin-peter New Haven, Ct 06457 galvin-peter@yalecs.bitnet
optical@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (03/02/89)
In article <52322@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>, root@yale.UUCP (Celray Stalk) writes: > It's sounding a lot like snake oil to me. I recall now that when I > started my subscription (about a year ago) I got two issues back to back and > about a week later got a "renew now and save" letter! I wonder if even > back then they were planning to kill the mag and were trying to get > all they could before then. > > Just yesterday the last issue in my subscription (lucked out!), with a > big red cover page warning me that this was my last issue and I'd better > send in my renewal now or I wouldn't receive any more issues. In light > of the fact that they don't give refunds for unused portions of subscriptions > if the magazine goes under, I'd say that it might be time for all folks > being ripped of by Ziff Davis to get together for a class action suit. They > are apparently knowingly conducting fraudulant business practices. > Anyone out there have a lawyer in the family?! > > I have (or at least had) nothing against Ziff Davis (they _are_ the > publisher, aren't they?...I don't have an issue here). I think PC Mag > and PC Week are very good magazines. It's too bad they're quickly > gettings themselves a bad reputation. > > --Peter > > ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- > Peter Baer Galvin (203)432-1254 > Senior Systems Programmer, Yale Univ. C.S. galvin-peter@cs.yale.edu > 51 Prospect St, P.O.Box 2158, Yale Station ucbvax!decvax!yale!galvin-peter > New Haven, Ct 06457 galvin-peter@yalecs.bitnet I am not a subscriber, but I have seen and heard enough about this kind of rip-off. We should do something about it. Last Oct. I received a notice from a magazine called COMPUTE!, and it said that I did not pay for my subscription. I had never heard this publication before, and certainly never received one either. I then wrote a letter ( a polite one) to them, and told them the situation. They never responded at all. In early January, I received a notice from a collection agency stated that I owe COMPUTE! $12.97 and if I don't pay, they will track me down and bring legal actions against me. I wrote back to both this collection agency and COMPUTE! ( this time, it was not a nice letter) telling them to BUZZ OFF. Then I never heard from them again ( at least till now). Has any one encoutered this kind of problem? I think they have gone too far trying to rip people off (maybe in their word, it should be a strategy of making money). Qiwu Liu University of Kansas
gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) (03/02/89)
I just received in the mail the latest edition of PC Magazine. Ironically enough, I received it on March 1, the day that PC Tech staff members supposedly got the ax. I say ironically enough because within PC Mag is an ad for PC Tech Journal asking future subscribers to send in their money! Now I can imagine PC MAg's reply: "But we published this edition month's ago. We could not pull out all those inserts bound into each edition." Fine. But one COULD add another non-bound insert warning one to disregard the PC Tech ad. Kind of like mags do when they find that they have printed a fraudulent ad for some software company. But that never seems to be the case with magazines, surprisingly enough. Could it be that subscribers are considered as creditors rather than consumers? So some multi-megabuck publishing giant can form little companies (magazines) and at the first sign of red ink, pull the plug. (File for bankruptcy.) They keep the subscription dollars (kind of the equivalent of all those corporate pension funds) while at the same time enjoying the profits of their OTHER companies - and perhaps even planning new startups (another magazine which we all MUST HAVE!) Am beginning to view those glossy mail solicitations for MIPS and Embedded Systems and AI with a new and jaundiced eye.
khl@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu (Kenneth H. Lee) (03/02/89)
Has anyone actually called the publisher to confirm that they are
discontinuing publication to PC Tech Journal? And if so, has anyone
asked them what they intend to do for those subscribers who still
have issues owed them on subscriptions.
I used to subscribe to Popular Computing and when they discontinued
publication, they offered a list of magazines to fill out the balance
of the subscription. I can't remember what I chose, but it may have
been PC Tech Journal. :-)
enjoy life
/k
--
Kenneth H. Lee khl@cunixc.columbia.edu
Columbia University ...{topaz|rutgers}!columbia!cunixc!khl
209 Watson, 612 West 115 Street khlcu@cuvmc.bitnet
New York, NY 10025 (212) 854-8230kinoshir@beasley.CS.ORST.EDU (Richard Kinoshita - UCS) (03/17/89)
In article <1257@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu> khl@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu (Kenneth H. Lee) writes: > >Has anyone actually called the publisher to confirm that they are >discontinuing publication to PC Tech Journal? And if so, has anyone >asked them what they intend to do for those subscribers who still >have issues owed them on subscriptions. > I asked a representative of Ziff-Davis both of these questions at NetWorld. He said that 1) Yes, PC Tech Journal is being discontinued, but all the information that used to be in PCTJ would now be folded into PC Magazine (yea right). And, 2) He said they would be giving current subscribers a choice of a refund on the balance of their subscription or a choice of either PC Mag or PC Computing. Richard Kinoshita Systems Integration University Computing Services Oregon State Unversity Corvallis, OR 97331
wgh@ubbpc.UUCP (William G. Hutchison) (03/20/89)
In article <9490@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>, kinoshir@beasley.CS.ORST.EDU (Richard Kinoshita - UCS) writes: > I asked a representative of Ziff-Davis both of these questions at NetWorld. > He said that 1) Yes, PC Tech Journal is being discontinued, but all the > information that used to be in PCTJ would now be folded into PC Magazine > (yea right). And, 2) He said they would be giving current subscribers a > choice of a refund on the balance of their subscription or a choice of either > PC Mag or PC Computing. > But who gets the source code that was published in the magazine? It is still copyrighted (I presume by Ziff-Davis), so do not break the law by posting it to Usenet. But where will the PC Tech Journal BBS go? inews fodder inews fodder inews fodder -- Bill Hutchison, DP Consultant rutgers!cbmvax!burdvax!ubbpc!wgh Unisys UNIX Portation Center P.O. Box 500, M.S. B121 Jacobites unite: Scotland Free in '93!! Blue Bell, PA 19424
glenn.caleval@canremote.uucp (GLENN CALEVAL) (04/08/89)
Ziff-Davis has an obligation to offer all PC Tech subscribers credit against issues of one of their other publications. In diving into the PC world, I subscribed to Tech and PC Mag. They got me for 2 yr. subs on both with their "special offers." If they won't refund then they should at least REPLACE!! --- ~ EZ-Reader 1.11 ~ ** Glenn Caleval Regina, Sk. 306-359-7742 --- MaS Relayer v1.00.00 Message gatewayed by MaS Network Software and Consulting/HST Internet: glenn.caleval@canremote.uucp UUCP: ...!tmsoft!masnet!canremote!glenn.caleval