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t.disputes gazel
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2022-08-26
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D I S P U T E ? ' S G A Z E L L E
"...what fools these mortals be."
Note by Dave Moorman
Program by those
Insane Guys (and Gals)
at LOADSTAR
Once upon a time, a major portion
of the computer industry revolved
around the C-64. Consumer Magazines
flurished, filled to the borders with
advertisements for more stuff to buy.
The editorial content consisted of
reviews of more stuff to buy, tips &
trix, How to Put an Asterisk (*) in
the Upper Left Corner of Your Screen,
and cruel programs to type into your
computer. Short programs. Cruel
typing!
To the good fortune of everyone
else, a new publication for the C-64
premiered in 1984 from Softdisk. As
the company's name implies, the
publishers realized that no matter how
wonderful Guttenberg's technology was
in 1500, computer magazines deserved a
more -- how shall we put it? --
computer-like means of distribution.
On a disk. They called it LOADSTAR.
What a concept! No advertisements
for more stuff to buy. Reviews of more
stuff to buy (untainted by the hopes
and fears of advertisers), intelligent
tutorials and useful tools and
utilities, and No Typing. Excellent,
large, functional programs were
available to all with only a press of
the <RETURN> key. This was clearly a
monthly digest for USERS, not just a
bally-hoo to CONSUMERS! (Did I mention
"no advertisements?")
The first issues came with two
disks. One was loaded with programs,
art, music, editorials, and more. The
other was blank, available to the
subscriber to send back to the editors
with comments, feedback, questions,
and anything else one might want to
write. (I understand that Al Gore
heard of this "electronic feedback,"
and straight away invented the
Internet.)
But the busy people in the
consumer market arena were not going
to be left behind. The paper mags
began publishing their own disks,
filled with the meager wares offered
on their Guttenberger pages. The
advantage (purchased dearly with an
additional subscription charge) was
that the reader did not have to type
in the code.
Did I say "meager?" One publisher
worked out a deal to put all their
little "doo-dads" on LOADSTAR. The
extra content hardly made a dent in
the Block Access Map! Nevertheless,
C-64 users were so desperate, so
starved for information and software,
they ponied up and bought these puny
accessory disks. I did -- when I could
afford it. But that was before I
discovered LOADSTAR!
The people at LOADSTAR could have
been angry. They could have claimed
Intellectual Property Rights on the
Look and Feel of a Disk Magazine and
taken the pikers to court for the rest
of the Century. But they did not. They
did something worse...
They laughed.
This program, DISPUTES? GAZELLE is
all that laughter, coded into bits and
bytes that will live eternally on your
C-64. And you will laugh, too, at this
spoof on the haphazzard way the paper
publishers tried to rival LOADSTAR!
And failed.
When the comsumer computer market
shuffled off to the IBM/Windows
platform, the advertising for more
stuff to buy for the C-64 dried up.
One by one, the great consumer
magazines left their audience holding
never-to-be-fulfilled subscriptions.
Anyone who knew anything (i.e., Dan
Tobias) predicted the imminent demise
of the lowly C-64 and all other 8-bit
computers. They were right about all
the others, which bet their whole
existance on the consumer market. They
are gone. The advertising is gone. The
paper magazines (and their companion
disks) are gone. [Commodore] is gone!
But LOADSTAR is here! Not exactly
monthly, but still plugging away at
offering fun and delights for people
who know a good hobby computer when
they have one. Smart people.
Like you.
If I have forgotten to mention it
somewhere else, we will be here
through issue 246! (The only reason we
keep saying we might end is that we
don't want to leave you holding a
never-to-be-fulfilled subscription!)
Hang in there, LOADSTARites. The
best is yet to come!
DMM