Draft:Compute!'s Atari ST Disk & Magazine

Compute!'s Atari ST Disk & Magazine
FrequencyBimonthly
PublisherABC Publishing (1986–1988)
First issueOctober 1986
Final issueJune/July 1988
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
ISSN0888-8442

Compute!'s Atari ST Disk & Magazine (ISSN 0888-8442), often stylized as COMPUTE!'s Atari ST, was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1986 to 1988 focusing on users of the Atari ST line of computers[1]. The magazine was an Atari ST-only daughter magazine of the computer hobbyist magazine Compute![2]. The premier issue made its debut in October 1986 with a retail price of $12.95.[3]

The magazine featured standard articles and step by step tutorials along with an accompanying 3½ inch floppy disk that included a range of programs from applications to games and utilities including (in some issues) a “Special Bonus” program like a complete Atari Users' Group list[4].

COMPUTE!’s Atari ST Disk & Magazine was the first magazine in the history of the publishing industry to go into national distribution as an integral magazine/disk product.[5]

Monthly features & columns that appeared in every issue during COMPUTE!’s Atari ST’s print run included:

- The Editor’s Page
- The Ear: News, rumors, and gossip heard around the ST community
- ST News & Notes
- Readers’ Feedback
- New Products
- Reviews

In addition to the monthly features, columns and programs, COMPUTE’s Atari ST also featured contests like the “$10,000.00 Atari ST Programming Contest!” which awarded cash prizes from $500 to $5,000.00.[6]

The last issue of COMPUTE’s Atari ST Disk & Magazine published was the June/July 1988 issue[7].

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  • Laser Chess by Mike Duppong (First Prize in COMPUTE!’s Atari ST Disk & Magazine’s $10,000 ST Programming Contest) – A two player game based on traditional chess but featuring new twists[8]
  • Art-ST by Robert M. Birmingham (Second Prize in COMPUTE!’s Atari ST Disk & Magazine’s $10,000 ST Programming Contest) – A general purpose drawing program with advanced features to create animated slide shows[9]
  • 3-D Edit by Mike Kerekes (Honorable Mention in COMPUTE!’s Atari ST Disk & Magazine’s $10,000 ST Programming Contest) – A hybrid graphics editor and computer aided design program (CAD) that allows a user to create three dimensional shapes, rotate them for viewing at any angle, modify them in numerous ways, and saving the graphic in NEOchrome or DEGAS format for further art work[10]
  • STates & Capitals by Robert P. Dolan - An updated Atari ST version of States & Capitals originally released for the Atari 400/800 computers in 1980 by Atari[11]

Staff

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Publisher:

  • James A. Casella

Editors of the magazine included:

  • Robert C. Lock
  • Tom R. Halfhill
  • Todd Heimarck

Senior Editor:

  • Richard Mansfield

Managing Editor:

  • Kathleen Martinek

Executive Editor:

  • Selby Bateman

Features Editor:

  • Keith Ferrell

Columnists:

  • Shelby Bateman
  • McKendre Haynes
  • Sheldon Leemon
  • Arlan R. Levitan
  • Joseph Kutz
  • Philip I. Nelson

Reviews:

  • Rhett Anderson
  • Selby Batman
  • Thomas M. Castle
  • Andy Eddy
  • David Florance
  • Tom R. Halfhill
  • Todd Heimarck
  • David Hensley Jr.
  • Arthur Leyenberger
  • James W. Maki
  • Richard Mansfield
  • George Miller
  • Philip I. Nelson
  • David Plotkin
  • Neil Randall
  • Tony Roberts

References

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