Friday, August 07, 2009

Gone but not forgotten...

I am way behind in noticing this because my copy of Personal Computer World magazine is delivered to work, so I have only just discovered that it is no longer being published. When I went into work yesterday, I found two copies of Computeractive in my tray and a letter explaining that:
"Because of the unprecedented adverse economic climate, advertisement and copy sale revenues have declined in parallel with the contraction of the monthly personal computer magazine market, to the point that the title is no longer economically viable..."

Soon to be an aquarium
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir
I have two copies of Computeractive because they switched my subscription to that publication after the last edition of Personal Computer World was printed. I'm afraid that Computeractive is a poor substitute for Personal Computer World as it is too lightweight and aimed at a completely different audience. I liked and subscribed to Personal Computer World because of the depth and breadth of the content. They understood that PC was not synonymous with Windows and that not all PC users are business people. I also liked it that they didn't just fill the magazine with reviews and, although things had moved on from the days of typing in programs from printed listings, they still gave good hands on, practical advice on how to get the best out of both applications and programming environments.

In short, I've been reading Personal Computer World more or less all the time I've been a Computing teacher, I've been a subscriber for at least twenty years, and have never hesitated to recommend it to Computing teachers and students alike. It will be sadly missed and I'm not sure what I'll subscribe to instead - I'm not aware of any other computing magazine like it.

An obituary from a former editor makes interesting reading as does the reaction from a contributor and of particular interest is Guy Kewney's assertion that falling advertising revenue was not the only problem!

Can anyone suggest an alternative now that PCW is gone?