Azog-Thoth@cup.portal.com (William Thomas Daugustine) (02/14/91)
ok, so far, here are some results to an eariler posting (Survery: A
magizene for DEC users) that I posted about a week or so ago.
Out of the yeas and nays, the ratio was 8:1, with yea being the majority.
As far as the yeas are concerned, most agree it sounds like a good idea,
and some have already expressed interest in writing articals. My idea
posted was real general, but those who are for got the point pretty
much down.
As far as the nays are concered, opinions expressed are that there arent
enough DEC hobbyists that such a venture would be successful. I dont
wish to insult those who nay-sayed, but want to point out a few facts that
perhaps were overlooked: where do you think some of the DEC equipment goes
that gets tagged for 'scrap'? Most of it does indeed get scrapped, but
quite a bit of it finds its way into homes. One yea-sayer even hinted
at owning a 36-bit machine!! On a personal side, I own a VAX 730,
PDP-11/34a, and a bunch of Pros and DECmates.
I would still like to get more opinions on such a venture. And for those
who expressed interest in writing, please email me a short (one or two
line) idea of articles you might have in mind.
I have to include a disclaimer: none of this is in stone! This is a
general idea I am tossing around with my friend. I will be meeting
on Sunday to discuss this in detail, and will have further info after
that if anyone is interested. Items I imagine to be discussed are
content, advertising, rate and cycle of subscription, and many more.
One fear expressed is that the mag would evolve into such as exists
today. This is to be for hobbyists, and will not include discussions
on the latest 8mm drives for the XMI buss!! (example). In my mind,
I see topics such as hardware modifications, software hacks, and
stuff like that.
For an analogy, and I mentioned this in the eariler posting. People
generally agree that CP/M is dead, but not the case, we are a 'matured'
community, with no need to sit in the spotlight. I see this as the case
also: people have been collecting old and dead DEC stuff for many years
now...
Enough of my rambling...
Billy D'Augustine
Azog-Thoth@cup.portal.com