david@infopro.UUCP (David Fiedler) (10/04/89)
Contact: David Fiedler
916-677-5870
Rescue, CA (September 15): InfoPro Systems, publisher of UNIX
periodicals, announced their launch of a "video magazine" about
UNIX, to be available later this fall on VHS videotape. Charter
subscriptions to UNIQUE: The UNIX Video Quarterly will be available
for $195 per year in the U.S., "less than half the cost of many
industry newsletters", according to David Fiedler, popular UNIX
authority and president of InfoPro Systems. "The trend toward
multimedia in computer hardware and software, and the growing
emphasis on interactive graphics, make video a perfect
communications medium", Fiedler said. "Professional, in-depth video
coverage of UNIX has never been done before on a continuing basis."
The UNIX Video Quarterly is based on UNIQUE, a leading UNIX
newsletter edited by Fiedler since 1981. The video format will
permit subscribers to evaluate the performance of computers and
software for themselves, by simply watching their television. "This
is especially important with the emergence of graphic user
interfaces and window managers", Fiedler said. "The ability to make
judgements without having to interpret complex benchmarks will be
invaluable to anyone in a decision-making position."
Major UNIX trade shows will be covered in depth, allowing people to
see the latest products even if they can't personally attend,
according to Fiedler. Interviews with major industry figures,
company and product profiles, and guest commentators from the UNIX
press will also be part of UNIQUE: The UNIX Video Quarterly.
Subscriptions are available directly from InfoPro Systems at PO Box 220,
Rescue, CA 95672. Overseas distribution and video format conversion
(PAL and SECAM) arrangements will be announced later.
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UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
UNIQUE, The UNIX Video Quarterly, and The Computer Video
Quarterly are trademarks of InfoPro Systems.
Industry Endorsements
It seems to me that the field of computing is ready for a multimedia
presentation rather than relying just on print media. This is the
breakthrough to bring computing information into the information age.
-- Peter Salus
Director of Research Relations
Open Software Foundation
If this new video quarterly is as lively and informative as UNIQUE, then
I welcome it wholeheartedly.
-- Ellie Young
Executive Director
Usenix Association
As essential as UNIQUE is to my professional life, words can only go so
far in conveying the essence of a new product or of a trade show.
Clearly Fiedler has the right answer to this problem with UNIQUE on
video. I cannot imagine trying to keep abreast of the UNIX industry
without it.
-- George Pajari
President
Driver Design Labs
Having appreciated the Fiedlers' insights into the UNIX industry through
the printed word, I'm very excited about seeing what they will do with
this new medium. The immediacy of television will allow them to provide
even more information in an interesting and engaging way.
-- Erwin Morton
President
Syntactics Corporation
The combination of David Fiedler's nonbiased and incisive editorial
style with a video camera has got to be one of the best things that ever
happened to UNIX journalism.
-- Ed Taylor
Managing Director
Pencom Systems, Inc.
The idea of UNIQUE videos is a fresh, new concept in computer
journalism. Its multimedia approach should get information across more
comprehensively in a shorter period of time. The potential benefit for
the UNIX community is enormous!
-- Jim Joyce
Proprietor
Jim Joyce's UNIX Bookstore
Questions About UNIQUE: The UNIX Video Quarterly
Q: Why go to the trouble of producing videotapes?
A: With all the new Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) on the market,
plus the explosion of new graphics programs for UNIX and introduction
of low-cost graphics workstations, we felt there was a great need
for a communications medium that could show people exactly how the
graphics look and feel. Video is simply unsurpassed for showing graphics
as well as new product profiles, personal interviews with industry
figures, trade shows, and so on.
Q: How can you compete with magazines and newsletters?
A: One reason we like the video concept so much is that we're not
competing with any print medium whatsoever. A magazine can't show
the actual speed and response time of a computer like video can, but
a videotape can't easily be read between appointments like a magazine.
Each has its own advantages. Watching our videotapes will greatly
increase your understanding of the events you read about in the UNIX
press.
Q: What makes a UNIX publisher think it can become a video production
company?
A: We approached the video concept as experienced UNIX journalists
and communicators, rather than as video producers looking for a
fast buck in the computer market. UNIQUE: The UNIX Video Quarterly
is a major new approach to computer journalism in general, and we
expect our biggest stumbling block to be the fact that people have
simply not been exposed to the concept. We have already started production
on our first tape, and are getting excellent cooperation from vendors
and industry figures. And we have solid video credentials, including
our own studio.
This is not a "point and shoot" home video, nor is it a "music
video" or "quickie news" style production. Every issue
of UNIQUE: The UNIX Video Quarterly will be professionally
produced and directed under the personal supervision of David Fiedler.
The same editorial policies that have made UNIQUE the world's
largest independent monthly UNIX newsletter will be continued in the
videotape edition.
Q: Where the hell is Rescue, California?
A: Rescue is a Gold Rush era town located between Sacramento and Lake
Tahoe. The general store downtown was formerly a Pony Express stop.
It's a great place for us to be: it gives us a quiet place to work, as
well as perspective from frantic Silicon Valley and the world beyond.
Besides, we can pan for gold in the creek.