Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.ibd From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Computers & Automation Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 13:13:30 EST Message-ID: <4.1992Oct29.131330@AmeriCast.com> 10/29/92 TITLE Computers & Automation How To Keep Pace With Fast-Changing Computer Technology Trends Sean Silverthorne In Mountain View, Calif. If there is anything that changes as fast as computer technology, it's news about computer technology. Keeping on top of the swift-moving computer industry can be a full-time job. Luckily, there are plenty of sources to keep you plugged in. Literally hundreds of publications report on the latest developments and speculate on the future. Better yet, many of these sources are free of charge to qualifying subscribers - that is, people who have purchasing authority. Three broad categories of information sources are Computers & Automation available. Weekly trade publications focus on news and product announcements, like unannounced details on Microsoft Corp.'s up- coming Windows NT operating system. Monthly magazines are more product-driven. Here you are likely to see a headline like, "The Top 80- to 120-Megabyte Hard Drives Put Through Their Paces." Fi- nally, newsletters are where pundits digest and analyze industry trends. Although this is by no means an exhaustive compilation, here are some of the leading publications in each category: Newsletters Softletter, $345 a year. Publisher Jeffrey Tarter zeros in on the software industry and provides a valuable annual revenue ranking of both private and public companies. The Channelmarker Letter, $495 a year. Channelmarker's publisher, Seymour Merrin, is often the reporter's first call for stories on computer distribution. Never caught without an opinion, Merrin was the first analyst to predict the tumble of Businessland Inc. The Microprocessor Report. Annual subscription is $445. Editor and publisher Michael Slater's readers are many times the first to learn of new chip technologies and price changes. In an August issue, Slater told how some vendors twist benchmark results to inflate performance numbers - essential information for anyone who buys technology for a living. ComputerLetter, $495 a year. Publisher Dick Shaffer's newsletter is a bright, well-written chronicle of the industry's most signi- ficant trends. Subject matter is wide-ranging. On Oct. 5, it looked at how supercomputer makers are trying to crack commercial markets. An issue two weeks later looked at wireless data transmission. P.C. Letter, Industry Publishing Co., $495 a year. Editor Stewart Alsop created the Golden Vaporware Award, presented to software companies who pre-announce products months and even years before they ship. First winner: Microsoft, for Windows, which was two months late. Release 1.0, EDventure#m#cq#m# Holdings Inc. Cost: $495 a year. Esther Dyson is publisher and editor. Dyson, a former Forbes re- porter and analyst, renamed the publication after taking over venture capitalist Ben Rosen's Rosen Electronics Letter. Windows Watcher, published by CompuThink Inc. Subscriptions cost $295 a year. Editor and publisher Jesse Berst tracks the Windows market and provides inside info and analysis considered important to developers of Windows applications. Trades Computer Reseller News, a weekly published by CMP Publications Inc. Subscriptions are $189 a year. Recent headline: "486 Sales Soar Amid Strong Shift In Demand." This is the trade of choice for people who sell computers. Computerworld, published weekly by CW Publishing Inc. Subscrip- tions are $48 a year. Recent headline: "Hertz Revamp Eyes HP Minis, Outsourcing." Computerworld's main reader is the informa- tion services professional. Its strengths are news and case stu- dies on companies' computing strategies. InfoWorld, a weekly put out by InfoWorld Publishing Inc. Cost is $110 a year. Recent headline: "Apple Leads Charge To Speedy CD ROM Drives." Although InfoWorld goes head-to-head with PC Week and Computerworld for breaking news, its strength is in product analysis and reviews. The publication has been bolstered by the return of Stewart Alsop, the P.C. Letter editor, as editor-in- chief, and the popularity of gossip writer Robert Cringely. PC Week, a weekly published by Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. Cost is $160 a year. Recent headline: "Microsoft Previews 19 Workgroups Apps." Many readers first turn to PC Week's last page, home of Spencer the Cat. The rumor column is written in a witty, biting style as we follow Spencer, the "power meower," gathering tips. MacWeek, another Ziff-Davis Publishing product. Subscriptions are $99 a year. Recent headline: "Mac Cuts Fail To Close PC Gap." The publication focuses on news, trends and case studies of interest to users and sellers of Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh. MacWeek's sources at Apple provide a continuing supply of scoops for readers and headaches for Apple execs. Magazines MacUser, Ziff-Davis Publishing. The monthly rate is $27. MacUser and Macworld compete for Macintosh users. Similar in content to Macworld but with features slanted more toward the individual Mac user. Macworld emphasizes the corporate reader. Macworld, Macworld Communications Inc. Annual subscriptions are $30. This was the first publication devoted to the Macintosh. Macworld recently made news with a story about potentially ad- verse health effects from computer display screens. Columnist Steve Levy is first rate. Upside, published by Upside Publishing Co. Subcriptions are $48 a year. The irreverent monthly started out covering high tech's venture capital community but is trying to broaden its reader- ship. It specializes in long pieces on emerging technologies that try to identify winners and losers. While the writing is hit and miss, the ideas are always lively. VAR Business, published by CMP Publications. Subscriptions are $55 a year. A slick monthly read by value- added resellers, developers and integrators. Corporate Computing, Ziff-Davis Publishing. Price: $50 a year. High-profile start- up monthly focusing on the use of computers in business. Monty Python member John Cleese writes a column on management training, but the meat and muscle here are technical case studies and how-to pieces aimed at information systems exe- cutives. This article is copyright 1992 Investors Business Daily. Redis- tribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM