[HN Gopher] Subroutines: David Bunnell's Newsletter from Inside ...
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       Subroutines: David Bunnell's Newsletter from Inside the PC Industry
       (1986)
        
       Author : ohjeez
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2023-10-02 14:20 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (archive.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (archive.org)
        
       | scottrogers86 wrote:
       | Quotes in here are gold:
       | 
       | "When the Mac came out, I was the only developer who said it was
       | a piece of shit."
       | 
       | --Philippe Kahn, President, Borland International
        
         | tpmx wrote:
         | It kind of _was_ a piece of shit with that little RAM (128k).
         | That was rectified with the Fat Mac (512k) 8 months later in
         | september of 1984. It was still quite expensive compared to the
         | PC clones that were common by late 1984 though.
         | 
         | There was an interesting dynamic for a while in the 80s between
         | text mode and bitmapped personal computers. Bitmapped computers
         | were generally for companies in design etc, well-todo
         | individuals and academics. To the rest they seemed very nice
         | but frivolous due to the very high cost. That 512k Mac in Sep
         | 1984: US$2,795 (equivalent to $7,870 in 2022).
         | 
         | At the time of the introduction of that first feasible mac you
         | could get a PC 5150 clone with the same amount of RAM and much
         | crappier CGA graphics for half of the price. And then the gap
         | just started getting wider over the next few years.
        
       | qingcharles wrote:
       | Anyone out there have any more issues of these?
       | 
       | Can't ask Bunnell himself, sadly :(
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Somewhat related:
       | 
       |  _David Bunnell, a Founder of Tech Magazines PC World and
       | Macworld, Dies at 69_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12766020 - Oct 2016 (1
       | comment)
       | 
       |  _R.I.P. David Bunnell, founder of MacWorld_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12749100 - Oct 2016 (1
       | comment)
        
         | eduction wrote:
         | For those who don't know, David in his early years worked with
         | Bill Gates and Paul Allen at MITS (creator of the Altair early
         | kit PC) in New Mexico. I believe David was head of marketing or
         | somesuch. (If you've ever seen the mugshot of young Bill Gates,
         | it dates to his New Mexico days.) He maintained lines of
         | communication to Bill throughout his life - that relationship
         | at MITS was basically a microcosm of how he would work with the
         | tech industry, evangelizing for, and fleshing out the
         | possibilities in, early personal computing tech. (Although his
         | magazines were not mere marketing outlets, they could be quite
         | critical when warranted).
         | 
         | In addition to the above named publications David also ran
         | Upside magazine (and its lively and cheeky website UpsideToday)
         | for many years -- relevant to HN as it ran some of the first
         | big features on VC firms (with no small amount of
         | critique/lampooning) like Kleiner Perkins.
         | 
         | I'm eager to dig into these and learn David's perspective on
         | the mid 80s tech industry.
        
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       (page generated 2023-10-02 23:01 UTC)