^P- ^C{Diskovery ^P+ ^Cby Daniel Tobias} Some of you have been expressing a desire for an all-Windows subscription software product. Your wishes are now reality; we have just launched Softdisk for Windows. This is a monthly software collection like Softdisk PC, only entirely for Windows. I've looked at the premiere issue, and it's pretty neat. Though I programmed the Softdisk PC VGA shell and SDPCam proud of my work on it, there are lots of snazzy effects in the Softdisk for Windows interface that I don't come close to equalling here. Windows buffs will definitely be interested in it. We are making it possible for you to switch your current Softdisk PC subscription to the new Windows product; call 1-800-831-2694 to do this or to obtain more information about it. Since I'm historically-minded, this product launching brings to mind the earlier new-product launchings in the history of Softdisk. In earlier columns, I reprinted my own first editorial, for _Big Blue Disk_ #1 in 1986, and the first ad for the Apple II _Softdisk_ in 1981. Now, here's the editorial, written by Softdisk founder Jim Mangham, that appeared in the September, 1981 issue of _Softdisk_ (for the Apple), the first thing that Softdisk Publishing ever published. Before I start, here's a bit of trivia: The "Softdisk #1" sold as a back issue to Apple users is actually the October, 1981 issue, the second issue to be published. The early issues were identified by date rather than by number, and when the issue numbers were assigned retroactively (starting with #27, the January 1984 issue), it was decided to start with the October issue since the September issue was really a "preliminary" issue to introduce the concept of subscription software, and didn't have very much material on it. (The programs on the September issue were re-published on the following issue, so subscribers and SDPCback-issue purchasers who started then didn't miss anything.) Our Marketing, Customer Service, and Technical Support departments will probably even deny that a September 1981 Softdisk ever existed, but I was one of the 50 charter subscribers who actually received it, so I know better. (More trivia: 150 copies of it were mailed to the founder's father, to complete a 200-copy shipment to qualify for bulk-mail rates.) Anyway, here's the premiere Softdisk editorial. It was originally presented in all upper case on a 40-column, 24-line text screen. The format has been changed to a more modern style, but the text is unchanged. ^C{---- BEGIN FLASHBACK ----} ^C-- INTRODUCTION -- This is the first issue of Softdisk Magazette. A magazette is a magazine on a diskette. Softdisk Magazette is a brave new experiment in journalism. What is so brave and SDPCnew about Softdisk? 1. Information comes to you in machine readable form. 2. If you wish to receive another issue of Softdisk, you must return this issue to the publisher. So what! Why is that so special? For one thing, it allows Softdisk to use the diskette again. But by far the most important reason for requiring you to return the Softdisk Magazette diskette is -- It provides feedback from you! You become a Softdisk contributor! Softdisk evolves in the direction that participating subscribers want it to. The fact that you own an Apple makes you a very special part of the world's population. You are a forward thinking individual. And Softdisk Magazette provides a way of unifying the voices of those of you who think at the leading edge of things. By continuing to take part in the Softdisk experiment, you will be molding the future direction of our society. {[Various technical details followed, explaining how to use the Softdisk interface; this is deleted here]} Remember-- Softdisk is in the embryo stage. You can make it be what you want it to be by sharing ideas, programs and information. Don't be afraid to experiment with various options. If you goof up, you can always re-run SOFTDISK.PROG. ^C{---- END FLASHBACK ----} Well, we have long since stopped having our users send back the issue disks in order for us to copy the following issue onto them, but we are still actively seeking feedback from our subscribers, via report cards, the Mailbag column, the Hall of Fame, and, from those of you with programming skills, we are still accepting program submissions for which we pay good money. (Back in 1981, Softdisk didn't pay for program submissions, other than giving coupons good for free issues, so today's basement hobbyist programmers have it {much} better than I did back then. Why, when I was a lad, I had to walk six miles uphill through ten feet of snow to bring my program submissions to the post office! Only kidding...) I don't know what impact Softdisk has had in "molding the future direction of our society," but, at least, none of the commentators who rant and SDPCrave on radio, TV, and newspapers about "the declining values of Western Civilization" have included Softdisk in their litany of things to blame, so I guess that means we're doing something right, huh? --Dan