
PCWorld Exits Print, and the Era of Computer Magazines Ends - Garbage
http://techland.time.com/2013/07/11/pcworld-exits-print-and-the-era-of-computer-magazines-ends/?
======
mindcrime
I have to admit, I kinda miss Computer Shopper. Some of my earliest, and
fondest, memories of getting started in computing involve poring over issues
of that magazine, reading the columns, drooling over the parts advertised in
the copious ads, and dreaming about ordering up a motherboard, case, power
supply, video card, etc., and building a computer from scratch.

As history would have it, that's pretty close to what I did. I bought a
386DX/40 motherboard and CPU, a whopping 1 _megabyte_ of RAM, and a few other
bits, as I pieced together my first PC. Then a guy I went to school with
offered to sell me a dead 286 box that had a good power supply, videocard,
floppy drives, etc., that I needed, so I bought that, and cobbled together
this Frankenstein's PC of a computer. Got myself a 28.8 modem and start
exploring BBS's, Tymnet and Telenet networks, reading Phrack magazine, got
into phone phreaking and other sordid activities...

Then somehow I got hold of a shareware C compiler, and a copy of Herbert
Schildt's book _Teach Yourself C_. That started an addiction that led to
Borland Turbo C++ for DOS, and the need to upgrade my computer to an absurd 4
megabytes of RAM.. and eventually to Borland C++ (the full suite), a whole
shelf full of C/C++ books, and my earliest forays into this strange world of
something called "linux" and "open source". Then came the Internet, Slashdot,
Kuro5hin, Freshmeat, BOFH, Sluggy Freelance, User Friendly, Dilbert, etc...

Years later - who knew that this is where it would all lead? _wistful sigh_

Call me a sentimental old fart, but Computer Shopper will always hold a
special place in my heart. :-)

