COMPUTE! and printing (was: Re: Looking for Compute! Atari ST disks)

From: Michael Nadeau <menadeau_at_mediaone.net>
Date: Sat Mar 17 09:49:28 2001

I can't speak for Compute, but the early computer magazines I worked on did
not use the systems they wrote about for anything other than word processing
during production. Desktop publishing in the early to mid 80s didn't have
the polish necessary for a glossy magazine. Instead, we used specialized
systems from companies such as Compugraphic (the best, IMO) and
Addressograph. These were essentially minicomputers serving as dedicated
publishing systems. Compugraphic (and I think the others) used SGML as the
markup language. Input was performed by a staff of typesetters who keyed in
the copy that we produced on our micros. Output was photographic hardcopy
that was manually pasted on boards and shipped to the printer. It's amazing
how things have changed. Today, with direct to plate technology, you can
produce an entire magazine on your desktop and email it to the printer.

BYTE did turn to Macs and Pagemaker (I think) by the late 80s, but still
relied heavily on a horrible Atex system to manage workflow.

--Mike

Michael Nadeau
Editorial Services
603-893-2379
----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Peschel" <dpeschel_at_eskimo.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 4:06 AM
Subject: COMPUTE! and printing (was: Re: Looking for Compute! Atari ST
disks)


> I was thinking about COMPUTE!'s checksum programs and then thinking that
> their software was sometimes very good and then rememberng how nice their
> magazine looked too. _That_ got me wonderng about the hardware/software
> they used to lay out and print their magazines. Does anyone know anything
> about that? Or similar systems of the era?
>
Received on Sat Mar 17 2001 - 09:49:28 GMT