Creative Computing (magazine)

Last updated
Creative Computing
Creative computing 1980-04 front.jpg
April 1980 issue
Editor-in-Chief David H. Ahl
FounderDavid H. Ahl
First issueOctober 1974 (1974-10)
Final issueDecember 1985 (1985-12)
Company Ziff-Davis
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 0097-8140

Creative Computing was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically oriented Byte . [1]

Contents

The magazine was created to cover educational-related topics. Early issues include articles on the use of computers in the classroom, various simple programs like madlibs and various programming challenges, mostly in BASIC. By the late 1970s, it had moved towards more general coverage as the microcomputer market emerged. Hardware coverage became more common, but type-in programs remained common into the early 1980s.

The company published several books, the most successful being BASIC Computer Games , the first million-selling computer book. Their Best of Creative Computing collections were also popular. Creative Computing also published software on cassette and floppy disk for the popular computer systems of the time and had a small hardware business.

Ziff Davis purchased Creative Computing in 1982 and closed the non-magazine endeavors.

History

DEC and Edu

Prior to starting Creative Computing, in the early 1970s David H. Ahl was working in the educational department of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) where he started publication of their Edu newsletter in the spring of 1971. [2] At the time, DEC had an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 machines being used in educational settings, so he was surprised to find the number of subscribers reach 20,000 after 18 months. He found that many subscribers did not have a DEC machine but were using Edu as a source of general information on computers in educational settings. This began his earliest thoughts about a non-DEC magazine aimed at this market. [3]

On 22 February 1973, Ahl was let go during a downsizing at DEC. Even before he received his last paycheck, he was hired by a different department to help develop new low-end versions of the DEC minicomputer line. During this period he collected many user submissions to Edu and convinced DEC to publish 101 BASIC Computer Games in the summer of 1973. [3] This was a hit, eventually selling over 10,000 copies in three publishing runs in July 1973, April 1974, and March 1975. [4]

By 1974, the team had produced two new designs, a PDP-8 combined with a VT50 terminal, and a briefcase-sized version of the PDP-8 with a small floppy disk that would be used with an external computer terminal. Other divisions within DEC saw these inexpensive machines as a threat to their own products and agitated against them, causing debates that eventually worked their way to the CEO. When the new designs were personally canceled by Ken Olsen with the statement that "I can't see any reason that anyone would want a computer of his own" [3] Ahl quit DEC and took a position at AT&T. [3]

Formation

It was at this point that Ahl decided to move ahead with the educational-focused magazine. Reasoning that the educational market would be of interest to public foundations and many companies, Ahl sent funding proposals to over a hundred companies and received nothing. [2] Instead, he used his own funds to print 11,000 copies of a flier that he sent to Hewlett-Packard and other minicomputer vendors, which resulted in 850 subscriptions to a magazine that did not even exist yet. [2] [lower-alpha 1]

Instead of printing 850 copies, Ahl split the subscription money in two; he kept one half for future operations, and used the other half to print as many copies of the new magazine as he could. This allowed for the printing of 8,000 copies of the first edition, which were completed on 7 October 1974. The subscribers were sent their copies first, but the rest were sent for free to a wide variety of companies, libraries and schools. He followed the same pattern for the next three issues. [5] The trick worked, and subscriptions began to pour in. [6] During this period the magazine was based in Morristown, New Jersey.

Growth

Back of the April 1980 issue, with a parody of other computer magazines Creative computing 1980-04 flipside.jpg
Back of the April 1980 issue, with a parody of other computer magazines

By August 1975 the magazine had 2,500 subscribers. In January, the Altair 8800 had been announced and Ahl began looking for new authors who could write for the exploding microcomputer market. By 1976 the content was roughly split between the education and microcomputing market. At that point, the magazine started actively looking for advertisers and the November/December 1976 issue was the first to be printed on coated paper rather than newsprint to provide better quality ads. [5]

By 1978 the subscriptions hit 60,000, and revenue was approaching $1 million. In July 1978, Ahl quit his position at AT&T to work at Creative Computing full time. This caused friction with his wife. [7] In August, they purchased ROM magazine [lower-alpha 2] and two smaller newsletters and combined their content into the magazine. In January 1979, the magazine went monthly from bimonthly. [8]

By 1979 the magazine had outgrown the single-family home it was being run from, and Ahl looked for a larger duplex home that would allow him to live with his wife in one half and run the magazine from the other. It was at this time that Regis McKenna, the advertising company handling Apple Computer, was asked to pay an overdue advertising bill. The company provided a canceled check proving they had already done so. When they began tracking it down, the police were called and found that two people in the company had embezzled $100,000 by sending some incoming cheques to their own account at a different bank. This was only discovered because one of the conspirators had forgotten to mark the bill with McKenna as paid, causing a second invoice to be sent out. [7]

When she was told the story, Ahl's wife had enough and kicked him out of the house pending a divorce. He moved into the only unused room in the other side of the building. During this time, Ted Nelson, known for the invention of hypertext, was briefly the editor. Nelson would arrive at 5 pm and work all night, waking Ahl in the bedroom when he started printing on a Qume daisy wheel printer. In October 1980 the company moved to a much larger 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) office building. [8]

Through this period, featured writers included Robert Swirsky, David Lubar, and John J. Anderson. The magazine regularly included BASIC source code for utility programs and games, which users could manually enter into their home computers. The April issues, starting in 1980, became famous for their parodies of the major computer magazines of the time.

Ziff-Davis

Larger publishers began taking note of the computer market. A watershed moment was in 1979 when McGraw-Hill purchased Byte . By 1982, most of the quality magazines had been purchased and only a few large ones remained independent, including Compute! , Interface Age , Family Computing [lower-alpha 3] and Creative Computing. [7]

Realizing they were being pushed out of the market due to the huge budgets and marketing power of these major players, in 1982 Ahl approached several potential buyers, including Atari, CBS [lower-alpha 4] and Ziff-Davis. [7] In 1982 Ahl sold the company to Ziff-Davis, which at that time published 28 different magazines. Ahl remained the Editor-in-Chief. [8] [9] The magazine moved to Los Angeles, California. At their peak, the magazine reached about 500,000 subscriptions. [7]

Through the early 1980s, and especially with the launch of the IBM PC, the market began to shift from a hobby-and-educational oriented one to more and more business applications. Ziff quickly shifted the focus of the magazine to be more software-oriented, and the programming articles disappeared shortly after the sale. This attempt to refocus on business computing was not successful, and when Bill Ziff had a cancer scare in 1985 he began concentrating his businesses, selling off many of the specialty magazines. Ziff ultimately ceased publication of Creative Computing in December 1985. [9]

Other magazines

The company also began publication of several other magazines at different times, but none of these were very successful and tended to have very short production runs. [7] Among these were Small Business Computing, Sync Magazine for the ZX81, and Video and Arcade Games. [7]

Books

The company also published several books. Among these were three volumes of The Best of Creative Computing Magazine (Creative Computing Press) in 1976, 1977, and 1980. The cover of volume 2 was illustrated by underground cartoonist Gilbert Shelton. 101 BASIC Computer Games was ported to Microsoft BASIC and published in 1978 as BASIC Computer Games . It became the first million-selling computer book. [5] This was followed by More BASIC Computer Games in 1979.

It also published the first The Best of Byte collection, in spite of being friendly competitors with Byte . The relationship ended with the McGraw-Hill purchase. [7]

Software

Box art style used by Creative Computing Software Action and bumping games.jpg
Box art style used by Creative Computing Software

A number of home computer games were published under the Sensational Software banner, also known as Creative Computing Software. Their best seller was a version of Space Invaders for the Apple II. Ziff-Davis closed the division as they felt it competed with their advertisers. [7]

Titles included:

Hardware

The company briefly sold hardware under the Peripherals Plus brand. The main product was a music card for the Apple II, and they offered a plotter and other products. Ziff closed this division as well. [7]

Notes

  1. ↑ The later narrative in Anderson puts the number of 600. [3]
  2. ↑ Unrelated to the Atari-related publication of a few years later.
  3. ↑ Although Ahl mentions Family Computing in an interview, [7] this magazine actually started publication in 1983, so it is likely he has confused the name.
  4. ↑ CBS ran a magazine division at the time. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Asteroids</i> (video game) 1979 video game

Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 8-bit computers</span> Home computer series introduced in 1979

The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. It is the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, enabling more advanced graphics and sound than most of its contemporaries. Video games are key to its software library, and the 1980 first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar Lander (video game genre)</span> Moon landing simulation games

Lunar Lander is a genre of video games loosely based on the 1969 landing of the Apollo Lunar Module on the Moon. In Lunar Lander games, players control a spacecraft as it falls toward the surface of the Moon or other astronomical body, using thrusters to slow the ship's descent and control its horizontal motion to reach a safe landing area. Crashing into obstacles, hitting the surface at too high a velocity, or running out of fuel all result in failure. In some games in the genre, the ship's orientation must be adjusted as well as its horizontal and vertical velocities.

<i>Choplifter</i> Video game first made in 1982 for the Apple II computer

Choplifter is a military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to Atari 8-bit computers the same year and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.

<i>Star Trek</i> (1971 video game) 1971 video game

Star Trek is a text-based strategy video game based on the Star Trek television series (1966–69) and originally released in 1971. In the game, the player commands the USS Enterprise on a mission to hunt down and destroy an invading fleet of Klingon warships. The player travels through the 64 quadrants of the galaxy to attack enemy ships with phasers and photon torpedoes in turn-based battles and refuel at starbases. The goal is to eliminate all enemies within a random time limit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type-in program</span> Software whose source code is entered by the user

A type-in program or type-in listing was computer source code printed in a home computer magazine or book. It was meant to be entered via the keyboard by the reader and then saved to cassette tape or floppy disk. The result was a usable game, utility, or application program.

<i>Compute!</i> Defunct American home computer magazine

Compute!, often stylized as COMPUTE!, was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's PET Gazette, one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET computer. In its 1980s heyday, Compute! Covered all major platforms, and several single-platform spinoffs of the magazine were launched. The most successful of these was Compute!'s Gazette, which catered to VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computer users.

John J. Anderson or J.J. Anderson was a writer and editor covering computers and technology. The New Jersey native was Executive Editor of Computer Shopper and Atari Explorer. At the time of his death he was an editor for MacUser magazine in Foster City, California. He was 32, and was survived by a wife, Lauren Hallquist Anderson, and two children.

<i>Lemonade Stand</i> 1973 video game

Lemonade Stand is a business simulation game created in 1973 by Bob Jamison of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC). In it, the player moves through several rounds of running a lemonade stand, beginning each round by making choices dependent on their current amount of money about their stock, prices, and advertising. In each round, the results are randomized based on the player's inputs, as well as affected by random events such as thunderstorms and street closures. Each round ends with a summary of the player's current status, and the game ends after 12 rounds.

<i>Basic Math</i> (video game) 1977 video game

Basic Math is an educational video game for the Atari Video Computer System. The game was developed at Atari, Inc. by Gary Palmer. The game involves a series of ten arithmetic problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. The player can edit different gameplay modes to alter how the numbers in the problem are chosen, or if their questions are timed. The game was released in 1977 as one of the earliest releases for the console.

<i>Computer Bismarck</i> Naval computer wargame

Computer Bismarck is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) in 1980. The game is based on the last battle of the battleship Bismarck, in which British Armed Forces pursue the German Bismarck in 1941. It is SSI's first game, and features turn-based gameplay and two-dimensional graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David H. Ahl</span> American author

David H. Ahl is an American author who is the founder of Creative Computing magazine. He is also the author of many how-to books, including BASIC Computer Games, the first computer book to sell more than a million copies.

<i>Starfleet Orion</i> 1978 video game

Starfleet Orion is a 1978 science fiction strategy game written and published by Automated Simulations. It appears to be the first space-themed strategy game sold for microcomputer systems. The game was originally written in BASIC for the Commodore PET, but later ported to other early home computer platforms including the TRS-80 and Apple II. The game was something of a success, leading to a string of successes for the company, notably the major hit Temple of Apshai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market</span> Overview about the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market

Following the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC, many other personal computer architectures became extinct within just a few years. It led to a wave of IBM PC compatible systems being released.

<i>BASIC Computer Games</i>

BASIC Computer Games is a compilation of type-in computer games in the BASIC programming language collected by David H. Ahl. Some of the games were written or modified by Ahl as well. Among its better-known games are Hamurabi and Super Star Trek.

<i>Planet Miners</i> 1980 video game

Planet Miners is a game published by the Microcomputer Games division of Avalon Hill for the TRS-80 Level II microcomputer in 1980. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, Apple II, and Commodore PET. The game is written in BASIC.

<i>North Atlantic Convoy Raider</i> 1980 video game

North Atlantic Convoy Raider is a wargame published by Microcomputer Games for TRS-80, Commodore PET, and Apple II in 1980. A version for Atari 8-bit computers was released in 1981.

<i>Apple-Oids</i> Video game clone of Asteroids made for the Apple II computer in 1980

Apple-Oids is a clone of Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade video game. It was written by Tom Luhrs for the Apple II and published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. The asteroids in Apple-oids are in the shape of apples.

<i>ABM</i> (video game) 1980 video game

ABM is a clone of Atari, Inc.'s Missile Command arcade game for the 32K Apple II. It was programmed by Silas Warner and published by Muse Software in 1980, the same year as Missile Command.

BASIC-8, is a BASIC programming language for the Digital Equipment (DEC) PDP-8 series minicomputers. It was the first BASIC dialect released by the company, and its success led DEC to produce new BASICs for its future machines, notably BASIC-PLUS for the PDP-11 series. DEC's adoption of BASIC cemented the use of the language as the standard educational and utility programming language of its era, which combined with its small system requirements, made BASIC the major language during the launch of microcomputers in the mid-1970s.

References

  1. ↑ "Creative Computing". The Online Books Page: Serial Archive Listings. USA: University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Ahl 1976, p. 2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson 1984, p. 70.
  4. ↑ 101 BASIC Computer Games (PDF). DEC. March 1975.
  5. 1 2 3 Anderson 1984, p. 72.
  6. ↑ Ahl 1976, p. 3.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Savetz 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Anderson 1984, p. 74.
  9. 1 2 Harry McCracken (20 November 2008). "The Twelve Greatest Defunct Tech Magazines Ever". Technologizer. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Isabelle, Alan (December 1980). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. No. 34. Steve Jackson Games. p. 35 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ↑ Mishcon, J. (August 1980). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. No. 30. Steve Jackson Games. p. 29 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ↑ Webster, Bruce F. (January 1981). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. No. 35. Steve Jackson Games. pp. 28–29 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ Webster, Bruce F. (January 1981). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer . No. 35. Steve Jackson Games. p. 29 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Forrest (July 1981). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. No. 41. Steve Jackson Games. p. 36 – via Internet Archive. It is hard to find anything to criticize about this package. The worst I can say is, some of these games are highly addictive. God knows why we play these things - but if you enjoy arcade games, you will like these.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Forrest (June 1981). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. No. 40. Steve Jackson Games. p. 35 – via Internet Archive.

Other sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.