OS/2 e-Zine! - Editorial

A Leaner, Meaner, OS/2 e-Zine!

ello again.

Another month, another issue. Sometimes it hardly seems possible that we've been doing this for eight months now, yet I look at the issue numbers and... I guess time flies.

What have we been doing for the last eight months and where are we going in the next eight? Good questions. Since our first tentative steps into the e-publishing world back in late October, 1995 we have been strenuously committed to a few simple goals.

First and foremost, to bring the OS/2 community a wealth of accurate and timely information regarding OS/2 and its native software.
To do it in an attractive, efficient and convenient manner for as many readers as possible, everywhere.

I guess the first goal is self-explanatory. We've tried to make it clear from the start that our official purpose is, "to encourage the use and discussion of OS/2 and its native software." We're not here to bash any other OS or company or to evangelize to the unwashed masses. We simply believe that OS/2 is the best operating system available today and we're here to say so, loudly and clearly. For the most part, I think anyone who has read our pages has gotten the point.

But how about the second goal? Like any publication we've gone through some growing pains and we'll probably still continue to have the odd ones. Overall though, I'm happy with what we've done and, from your feedback, so are you. All back-patting aside though, being pleased is not the same thing as being finished.

So in case you were wondering, the often-changing (and hopefully, improving) look of these pages, including the graphics, logos and other decorations is, and probably always will be, an on-going thing. Some may warn that a magazine needs to establish, "a familiar look," so readers will immediately be able to identify it. We think that the struggle to improve is worth the risk of momentary misidentification. Besides if we listened to all the things that "people" warned us about, we probably would have believed them when they said it wasn't possible to, "start an on-line magazine for OS/2."

By the way, we're also continually trying to improve the content of our pages. In the past eight months, we've grown from a smallish newsletter with barely two handfuls of articles per issue to a publication with more content than most print OS/2 magazines. During that time, we've attempted to seek out the kinds of material that you want to read and to maintain a broad coverage of popular end-user software.

And we're not done yet! We've got some great ideas for the future directions we want to go with e-Zine!, both with the layout and the content. I don't want to give away all our secrets but I will say that you can expect to see more focus pieces and hardware reviews as they pertain to OS/2 in the coming issues.

But what is the point of all this, you ask? Simple. You.

All our efforts are irrelevant if they don't please you. While the staff and contributors of e-Zine! love the process of putting these issues together, the real purpose of its existence is to serve your needs. That's why we need you to give us a "report card". We want to know what you think of where we came from, where we are and where you think we should be going.

So drop me a note today (we're still casual enough that you can write the editor!) and tell me what you think. Whether you have a comment on our logo, a review or article we've published, the magazine in general or you just want to say, "hi," take a minute to tell us how we're doing.

And don't forget, as always, it's the sponsors that make this and every issue possible. If you do think we're doing a good job and want us to continue, you have them to thank. So please do thank them!

Thanks for a great first eight months. Here's to the next eight.

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