If you had an IBM PC or compatible in the 1980s or 1990s, PC World was probably the magazine you wanted. It was certainly one of the most popular and perhaps the best all around PC magazine. The September 1986 issue includes:
PC World (September 1986)
Maximum PC was my favorite computer magazine. It was a relative newcomer to the computer magazine world being introduced as 'boot' in 1998 before becoming Maximum PC a year or two later. This was a magazine for PC enthusiasts, those who liked to build their own PCs, PC gaming, etc. It was somewhat similar to another enthusiast magazine for the Macintosh called MacAddict. In fact, both descended from an earlier magazine called CD-ROM Today. The April 2006 issue of Maximum PC includes:
Maximum PC (April 2006)
It's been a while since I have written one of these computer troubleshooting posts. In fact, I think this is only the second and the last one was years ago (and still unresolved). These things can be so frustrating...
I have this machine that I built several years ago that, among other things, includes a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and an nVidia RTX 3060 GPU. It is in an aluminum Lian-Li case that has been recycled for several builds over the years. I believe it started life as part of an Athlon XP based build so it is pretty old.
Anyway, while this machine worked well for a few years, it developed a very annoying problem. It would just randomly shut off at random times. Sometimes it would shut off before the boot process even completed (or sometimes even before post completed). Other times, it might be on for several hours before turning off. The problem got worse over time.
There are a few problems that might cause this. The first, and probably most likely, is temperature. Most remotely modern machines will shut down if they detect a CPU temp above safe limits. This is a nice feature that didn't always exist. I remember destroying a Duron CPU I bought at a computer show because the heatsink/fan they provided was not meant for that CPU. At least they provided a replacement.
Then next most likely cause is a bad power supply. A failing power supply can cause various instability issues so it is always suspect when your computer starts behaving strangely. In extreme cases (and especially with cheap power supplies), they can also take out other components when they fail.
Likewise, a bad motherboard or a motherboard with a failing component can cause random instability issues (Athlon XP/Pentium 4 era motherboard capacitor issues were notorious for causing stability problems). These are the worst because often you have to find them by eliminating all other possibilities first. The truth is, just about any failing piece of hardware can cause random stability issues but these seem to be the most common.
I eliminated temperature as a likely culprit pretty early on. When the machine was on long enough to check, temperatures seemed to be normal. All fans also seemed to be operating normally (well, the top blow-hole fan is kind of noisy but it was still spinning well).
Other problems are harder to eliminate unless you have spare parts to swap in. However, I tried reseating components, moving RAM around, unplugging drives, etc. None of these thing helped. Actually, after reseating components, things seemed to improve for a while but I think this was a false positive so to speak. The improvement didn't last.
Things finally got bad enough to make the machine unusable. It never stayed on for more than a few minutes anymore. Given the troubleshooting I had gone through, I had pretty much narrowed things down to either the power supply or the motherboard. I tested the power supply with a cheap power supply tester that I have and it tested ok (though sometimes things can be different under load). I didn't really think this was a power supply problem though. In my experience, power supplies usually fail in a way that either makes your computer freeze and/or prevents it from powering on at all and that wasn't what was happening here. Plus, it is a fairly high quality power supply that wasn't really that old.
Sadly, this meant the most likely culprit was the motherboard. However, I wasn't really ready to upgrade at this point. I have other machines though this is the newest and fastest.
I decided to take this machine out for one more round of troubleshooting. I was going to try swapping the GPU and the power supply even though I didn't really think that either of these things were the likely problem. At least I would be sure. It was at this time, before I have swapped anything, that I noticed a screen pop-up in Windows for a split second just before the machine turned itself off. It appeared to be the same screen that pops-up on your screen (depending on how you have things configured) that prompts you if you want to turn off the computer when you press the power button.
You can probably see where this is going. To make a long story a bit shorter, the problem ended up being the power switch itself. I tried reseating the switch into the button, unplugging and replugging the connector, etc. but wasn't able to improve things much. Until I can find a replacement, I have just unplugged the power switch from the motherboard header and moved the reset switch connector so that it now operates as the power button (most modern cases don't even seem to have reset switches anymore so no great loss). Problem solved.
I guess you learn something new every day. While I've experienced many failures over the years using and building computers, I had never seen a power switch go bad so it just didn't occur to me as something to check. However, it's something you should keep in mind if you are having random power off problems, especially if your case is older.
The above photo isn't mine but my case is identical except that mine has red lighting (primarily from LED fans) and I only have one drive in the bays, a single optical (DVD-RW) drive. I believe the model is the Lian-Li PC65B. I'll probably repurpose this case in the future for a retro Athlon XP, Athlon 64, or Pentium 4 machine. Except for the faulty power switch, mine is still in very good condition.
The Fall 1979 issue of Compute! was the very first issue. I descended from The PET Gazette which exclusively covered the Commodore PET. With the transition to Compute!, it added coverage of other 6502 based computers. You may not think many people had computers in 1979 but the Apple II and Atari 400/800 were already mainstream choices based on the 6502 CPU. This issue of Gazette includes:
Compute! (Fall 1979)
Byte was one of the first computer magazines published in the U.S. It covered a wide variety of 'small systems' including both home computers and machines made for businesses. However, it seemed the popularity of Byte faded the more the popularity of the PC grew. Nevertheless, for much of its life it was extremely popular and issues were huge including this one from November 1988. Contents includes:
Byte (November 1988)/a>
Subtitled "The Small Systems Journal", for most of its life, Byte wasn't strictly a "home" or personal computer magazine. It covered computers that would have been used by businesses, hobbyists, etc. though it did also, of course, cover home computers. In the early to mid 1980s, issues tended to be huge with this one coming in at about 564 pages. The April 1984 issue includes:
Byte (April 1984)
The Dell Latitude D531 is an AMD based laptop. The Latitude was Dell's business line of computers. Recently, they've changed their naming schemes to be much more generic as if to obfuscate things. The vast majority, even at this time, were Intel based. However, the D531 was released as a budget model.
Digital Archaeology: Dell Latitude D531
Byte was really meant more for computer hobbyists than just your average user. As such, it tended to have more technical content though it had plenty of typical reviews and other coverage as well. The July 1986 issue includes:
Source: Byte (July 1986)
Maximum PC was my favorite PC magazine. It was also one of the last major PC magazines to survive in print form. This was a magazine for PC enthusiasts with an emphasis on things like custom builds, overclocking, etc. The April 1999 issue includes:
Source: Maximum PC (April 1999)
Popular Computing Weekly was, as the title suggests, a weekly publication that covered the popular computers at the time in the U.K. where it was published. The October 23-29 issue includes:
Byte was probably the best general computer magazine of the 1980s. Many of the early issues could be huge with this one coming in at over 600 pages. The IBM PC had only been introduced the previous year and it was not yet clear that it would set the standard for personal computers. The November 1982 issue includes:
https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/09/13/byte-november-1982/
Computer magazines have been around for a really long time. Or may I should say 'were' at this point as you can find no general computer magazines on the shelf these days. Anyway, Byte was first published starting in 1975. This issue is from March 1981 which was still roughly six months before the IBM PC was introduced. There were still plenty of home computers from Commodore, Atari, Apple and others as well as numerous CP/M based machines and other unique computers. This issue weighs in at almost 400 pages and includes:
Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/16/byte-march-1981/
Since the start of 2021, debates about hosting sites, web services, and social media bans have drawn attention from all sides of the spectrum with some calling foul, citing free speech concerns, while others attest that it is simply warranted ownership control.
We have a love-hate relationship with technology that is confounded by ever evolving platforms, privacy concerns, and posting privileges. And those who recently rallied on Reddit are the latest instigators for attracting legislators.
Big Tech is a hot button issue, and prohibiting access is a big deal. But these companies have the right to do so, just as hedge funders shouldn’t be demonized for doing their jobs while rogue investors claim revolution.
As long as a company isn’t physically or forcefully harming another individual or their property, the ability to intervene is limited until new legislation is enacted, and we should be wary of calling for further government interference and be mindful that new laws can backfire. Regulatory decisions, even when meant to benefit the public, can impact future prospects and forms of competition within the marketplace.
Actually, the success of Big Tech could be attributed to minimal government interference early on (since you can’t control what you can’t understand… which may still be the case). Larry Downes, a business internet analyst and digital strategist claimed in a 2018 article featured in the Harvard Business Review that “The best regulator of technology… is simply more technology. And despite fears that channels are blocked, markets are locked up, and gatekeepers have closed networks that the next generation of entrepreneurs need to reach their audience, somehow they do it anyway — often embarrassingly fast, whether the presumed tyrant being deposed is a long-time incumbent or last year’s startup darling.”
Indeed, supposed monopolies in competitive economies don’t last forever; and although certain platforms and parties are currently in a dominant position, new entrants always emerge. Just as the rise of big box stores created concerns in the 1960s for Mom-and-Pop shops, the rise in online sales created similar concerns for the behemoths of the retail sector in the 1990s. The market self-corrects if given the chance.
Henry Hazlitt’s succinct words of wisdom are important to remember in situations such as this—“The 'private sector' of the economy is, in fact, the voluntary sector; and the 'public sector' is, in fact, the coercive sector.”
So instead of partaking in the illiberal Big Tech backlash, or pushing to raze or regulate existing systems — such as the charge to change the stock market or reprimand the GameStop mob — take comfort that when there are big problems and shifts in the status quo, new avenues will appear. Vending machines distributing COVID-tests and inventive restaurateurs and retailers demonstrating the power of a profit-motive are current examples for meeting marketplace needs.
Just as the pandemic lockdowns were (and still are) debilitating and debatable, there has been a realization of resilience and the need for restructuring. And so, it is somewhat safe to say the same will be true for the online and trading realms. A ‘want’ doesn’t go unmet for long in advanced societies, and loopholes are ever-present for enterprising individuals.
Change is never easy and pay to play models will likely emerge, but organic change may be just what is needed, and not new policy creation which is a common feature in daily news cycles.
Legacy media and powerful platforms have dulled our senses, and even when our health depended on it, many were (unsurprisingly) unable to distinguish between what was true or false. This has pushed some to the peripheries throughout the pandemic and resulted in traveling down rabbit holes that only furthered the global distrust of media and fed existing biases. Personal discourse has evolved into online performativity, and it seems our metacognition(the ability to think about thinking) needs a serious redress given the success of some conspiracy theories and the swarm of shorting stocks.
So, like any vice that is in our life, individuals need to take on some personal accountability for what has transpired in the online and trading realms.
The power players didn’t achieve their status by force and most allowed us access to their services for free (whether for tweeting our thoughts or jumping on a bandwagon for buying stock). It is the producers and users (composed of individuals) who have furthered such ventures.
If given a chance, the market will provide new sources and structures, since creative destruction brings better processes.
Like an actor without a stage, a podcaster without a platform may simply need to change course and an investor without an advisor may realize the investment is worth a professional opinion.
These current conundrums may force us to become more locally-oriented—investing in our communities, not corporations, and conversing with our neighbors rather than listening to mass media moguls, political pundits, and tribal troop leaders.
Having a concern for community news rather than capitol chaos (which disgusts and distorts American viewpoints) will have more of an impact on our lives any day of the week, particularly since we struggle to understand what we are being shown and what is being shared when on a grander scale anyway.
If given a chance, the market will provide new sources and structures, since creative destruction brings better processes. And Henry Hazlitt’s succinct words of wisdom are important to remember in situations such as this—“The 'private sector' of the economy is, in fact, the voluntary sector; and the 'public sector' is, in fact, the coercive sector.”
Solutions will arise as long as regulatory bodies are kept at bay and rational ethical entrepreneurs and innovators are left unbridled. What is needed now is true economic freedom (removing the incentive of crony capitalism and political policing) and the welcoming of enterprising individuals.
Dr. Kimberlee Josephson is an Assistant Professor of Business and the Associate Dean for the Breen Center for Graduate Success at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
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CompuServe was the first major online service provider in the U.S. with its origins going all the way back to 1969. It reached its peak in the early 1990s when it was surpassed by AOL. Of course, both were surpassed by the rise of the Internet and more generic Internet Service Providers soon after. CompuServe peaked around 1995 with about 3 million users.
Like all such services of the 1980s and 1990s, CompuServe was a proprietary service. Internet service started to a limited degree in 1989 with e-mail being gated to and from the Internet. Web access became available in 1995. By 1997 CompuServe started converting its forums to HTML and in 2004 the proprietary interface was finally discontinued completely. CompuServe’s forums did not cease altogether until the end of last year (2017) after 36 years. Some of the active ones have found homes elsewhere on the Internet.
The above ad is from 1994. $8.95 got you unlimited connect time and included various features including 60 e-mail messages a month. Some services cost extra.
