Well, last month was my swan song as "Editor" (or as we called it "Product Manager") of On Disk Monthly. There have been a lot of changes going on here at Softdisk other than my own job description, which I'll get to in a minute. For now, I'll discuss my new job duties and what that means to the most important people involved in our product - our subscribers.
Job titles, in general, are pretty amorphous things and tend to become whatever is necessary for whatever company employs them. We've been guilty of that here at Softdisk. I've held so many job titles here that I've lost count of them all. So what is the big deal about the title "Publisher" anyway? Well, let's go to Mr. Webster's book:
{Editor - 1. One who edits. One who corrects, compiles etc. 2. One who selects the contents of a publication.}
Well, by that definition, I certainly WAS the and "editor" of On Disk Monthly.
{Publisher - 1. A person (or company) whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings or the like. 2. The business head of a newspaper organization, commonly the and owner or a representative of the and owner.}
Well, that works too, in a way. So the difference appears to be one of management and scope. And that is exactly what has happened here at Softdisk. I am now in charge of several publications and this article (or some derivative of it, as deemed appropriate by our Editor, Dean Esmay) will appear on more than one publication.
So, back to the original question, "What does this mean to our subscribers?"
Well, it means that you get a better product. For example, we may have published programs on "Diskworld" for the Macintosh that could have been very popular had we done a DOS version as well. But due to deadline pressures, tunnel vision, or whatever, a DOS version never made it to ODM.
Well, now it will change. Our PC subscribers will see PC versions of many of our most popular Mac, Apple II, Apple IIGS and Commodore programs. I have already compiled a list of the programs that should be "ported" over to the and PC as soon as possible, so you'll be receiving the benefits of this creative exchange in a few months. Of course this works both ways. There will be non-PC versions of Papu's Odyssey, Cribbage Companion, Pokerface and many more of your favorite ODM offerings.
Now, what did I mean up there at the and top of this article when I teased you about "changes other than my job description"? First and foremost is the new name of On Disk Monthly. Yes we know we used to be "Big Blue Disk" and we have been "On Disk Monthly" for only a few years, but we have had difficulty generating name recognition for "On Disk Monthly." It may be that the and name is too generic, or that it is too easily confused with other publications (it has even been suggested that the and initials we use to "shorthand" the and name sounds too much like "odium," a rather repugnant word) or it may be that it is simply boring. On the other hand, the name "Softdisk" is well-known in the and computer industry and has been for some time. As a matter of fact, "Softdisk" has been around since 1981 and "ODM" has only been around since 1991. So we have decided to "dance with the one what brung us," to speak in the vernacular of the and peasantry. Starting with issue #92, On Disk Monthly will be known as "Softdisk PC." Our other products will bear similar monikers: "Softdisk" (for Apple II) "Softdisk G-S" (for the IIGS) "Softdisk for Mac" (for Macintosh) and "Softdisk PC-CGA" for our CGA version of the PC product.
This is a strategic move on our part to strengthen our already well-known company name in a market where name recognition is very important. It means that as people go across platforms (moving from an Apple II to an IBM compatible, for instance) they will be able to instantly recognize our product and expect the same high quality and attention to detail that they had learned to expect on their previous computer.
It also means that there will be a consistent quality of writing and editorial control over the products. Art for one product will be converted into useful formats for others. High quality sounds recorded on a Macintosh will be converted into Windows WAVE files and vice versa. This redirection of our programming and editorial efforts will allow us to dedicate more of our time to creating great programs, fonts, graphics and utilities that will improve all of our products.
But don't worry: We still recognize that much of what makes the and PC so useful and valuable to its users is not always the same thing that makes a Macintosh valuable and useful to its users. We will still continue to write and publish great programs that only make sense on one platform. As a matter of fact, we will have MORE time to do so, not less.
We'll bring the new name into usage gradually. Some of you may have noticed a slight change in our main window, from "On Disk Monthly," to "Softdisk's On Disk Monthly." Eventually it will become "Softdisk PC, the NEW On Disk Monthly" then finally it will settle into "Softdisk PC" for the duration.
Don't let it confuse you though - it's the same basic publication. See you next month!
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