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1997-04-16
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ATARI USER
==========
I've just received issue 7 of the American magazine, Atrai User, and
finally got around to reviewing it. The reason that I kept puting it off
was that it was a new magazine and I wasn't sure which way things would
go. Would it end up as a games mag or be a replacement for ST World?,
(Even the publishers of the old ST World haven't managed that!)
Like the UK, Atari mags in America are a dying breed, I think it's even
worse over there as the ST never took off like it did in Europe so their
user base is smaller than ours. Atari User claims to be the largest Atari
publication with over 30,000 readers (source: classified header).
Atari User was launched in June and is available free of charge ($8 per
bundle of 50 copies to cover shipping) to user groups and Atari shops (who
could charge a dollar for it as an incentive for them to take it) in
America. If anyone wanted it delivered to their home they could take out a
subscription. Outside the States, this is the only method of obtaining the
mag and Malcolm Burridge of Bath BBS is the distributer for the UK and
Europe.
The magazine covers all of Atari's computers, ie the ST/TT, Lynx,
Potfolio, 8-bit plus news, reviews and advertisements.
The news section comprises of a news/comments section by the editor, John
Nagy and snippets from ZNET. All fairly topical stuff and of interest to
all Atari owners.
Reviews are three to a page, so don't expect anything too in-depth. They
cover both software and hardware, Prism-Paint, Outline Art, A.P.B.,
Electron Spinster, the Canon BJ-10e printer and Seurat 2.2 were covered in
the November issue.
The articles are, without exception, well written. But, as the magazine
covers all Atari formats equally they tend to be a bit thin on the ground.
Each machine has only one or two per issue. There is usually an article on
MIDI programing and one or two of general interest.
The first issue had only 40 pages , I ignored this as I was sure that once
people found out about it things would pick up. The next issue was the
same, and the next, and the next. Issue 6 did have some readers letters
and things seemed on the upturn but issue 7 dropped them and the number of
pages to 32. This was due to lack of advertising, articles were as scarce
as ever.
While this type of magazine is acceptable given free to supplement user
group newsletters, it cannot be considered good value if the reader has to
take out a subscription at £17.50 a year (£20.00 Europe, $25.00 Canada,
$19.95 USA or A$30.00) no matter how well the articles are written.
By now you may be getting the impression that I'm not too thrilled with
Atari User. Well, it's true! I'm also angry and frustrated as it does seem
to be a magazine, with a hell of a lot of potential, determined to take
the same road as Atari and shoot itself in the foot at every opportunity.
Nothing fatal, but if it does it enough it will die from lead poisoning.
So, what can be done to improve things? The publishers could certainly
increase the content dramatically. Even if it meant more coverage going to
one machine than the others. They should have more interaction with their
readers in the way of letters pages, problems pages, hints/tips pages -
note the plurals!.
This now puts the ball firmly in our court. We need to support the good
magazines, give them input, tell them what we want to read about and tell
them when they get it right (and wrong). Without that, Atari users will
simply end up wandering around in the company of Dragon/Texas/Oric users
who continue to struggle on as they can't force themselves to put their
discontinued machines into the wardrobe and live in the real world.
ATARI USER may be obtained in the UK and Europe from:
Bath Publications
43 Midford Road
Bath
BA2 5RW
Tel: +44 (0) 225 836182 Voice
+44 (0) 225 840600 Fax
~~~OOOO~~~
Dave Mooney