Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!apple!vsi1!zorch!xanthian From: xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: [Computer Language and] BYTE still toothless Keywords: BYTE ~= magazines(amiga) Message-ID: <1990Oct2.220250.5133@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Date: 2 Oct 90 22:02:50 GMT References: <1990Sep27.152440.26687@NCoast.ORG> Organization: SF-Bay Public-Access Unix Lines: 34 davewt@NCoast.ORG (David Wright) writes: > > We got our October BYTE the other day, and it had even less Amiga >oriented articles than the previous issue. If there is a change coming, I >haven't seen it yet. > > Can't these magazines understand that x*(computer_type) where >x>amigas_sold does NOT mean that more of that readers will read the magazine >than Amiga owners? Actually, they're a bit cleverer than that. They do readership surveys. Both Byte and Computer Language ran surveys, found out that their readers mostly owned IBM-PC clones, and promptly dumbed down their magazines to match their reader's presumed interests. What never seemed to cross their minds, in either case, is that the fact that a reader might _now_ own the cheapest computer on the market does _not_ preclude the reader being _intensely_ interested in knowing where the leading edge in affordable (and even unaffordable) home computer technology is, for later planning, day dreaming, wish list building, or self improvement. Similarly, since the smart computer purchaser buys the machine on which the software he needs, runs, knowing about available programs on a wide variety of machines is crucial to intelligent buying decisions. Learning only about the latest whizzy spreadsheet program on one family of hardware leads to thinking that is all the market has to offer, a self-fulfilling prophesy. Think of it as broadcast TV market strategy ported to the paper publishing field: aim for an audience with a sixth grade mentality. Pfaugh! Kent, the man from xanth.