18 JANUARY2021|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
ComputerShopperwriterspastand presentreminisceon theoriginsand
evolutionofShopper,and howtheycametobeonthe magazine inthefirstplace
ITALLBEGANinabasementstoreroom
deep in the bowels of Dennis HQ in Rathbone
Place,near Tottenham Court Road tube
station in central London. Natural light is
astranger and sandwiches are flavoured
with soldering flux.
It feels like amausoleum, which is
appropriatebecause all computers are the
grey-beige colour favoured by Flemishartists
when painting the dead. Adedicated team of
contributors submit articles on floppydisks
sent in by snail-mail. Then theytelephone to
check they’ve really been delivered.
Some of the more adventurous use anew
fangled FX-9600 faxmachine to transmit
illustrations at afew dozen dots per inch.
The editorial team (both of them) put the
i together on ashared
Mac.
ThefirstComputer
hopperisprintedon
absorbentnewsprint,
with the sort of friendly
ink that makes it
impossible to use for
toiletry purposes. Afew
pages boast spot colour
nursery shades, but
tofthe magazine
wswith monochrome
words.Occasionally,anadvertisement
crowbars its wayintothe mix, offering such
wonders as a286 Ethernet Networking Starter
Kit with two workstation cards, acable and 12
months’ guarantee,all foramere£2,995.
Themagazine has dedicated sections for
the Amstrad PCW,BBC/Archimedes,
Commodore 64, MSX, QL, Sinclair Spectrum,
Sinclair Z88, Macintosh and something
known as ‘PC and clones’.Itiswrapped
between eggshell-paper covers and stapled
with industrial-grade steel.
By the end of the first year,we
are allowed to upgrade to proper
binding and attend the first ever
Computer ShopperShow.We
are luckytoget in.Over 3,
are turned awayatthe door.
Mel Croucher,feature
writer,Ranter, Raver,
Mel’s World,
Zygote, issue 1–
THE WRITING FOR
Shopperwas always a
solitary business –fun really
didn’t come intoit. TheComputer
ShopperShows were adifferentmatter.For all
contributors attendance was compulsory,to
give computing advice to readers on the
Shopperstand at the centre of the hall.
At startofthe thirdshow,Jeremy Spencer
(then editor) said to me,“What do you think of
the idea of having atheatre (250 seats) where
we can give presentations, three times aday,
about buying aPC?” “Great idea,”Ireplied.
“Good,”said Jeremy.“You’re on in 15 minutes”.
That’s fun. The ‘we’turned out to be just me.
David Robinson, Under Development,
issue 25 –
COMPUTERSHOPPERLITERALLY
changedmylife.ItwasMay2004,I’d
beenworkingintechnicalsupportandI
wasn’t particularly happy. Then Isaw
Shopper’s advert forstaff writers. I
wondered if Icould combine two of my
biggest passions and start writing about
technology.There was an interview,a
couple of writing tests and –tomyeternal
surprise –Ibecame ajournalist.
The job was exactly what Ihad
hoped. Section editors Ben Pitt
and TomRoyalquickly knocked
the rough edges off my writing. In
my firstweek, the chiefsub-editor and
one of the art team had astand-up shouting
argument. Ithink it was about the exact
placement of abit of page furniture,but it felt
like every newsroom cliché come true.
Within afew months, the team had
expanded with hires that included future
editors David Ludlow and Chris Finnamore.
Seth Barton knew the cheapest places for
lunch, while Dave McKinnon invariably had
the best stories and pratfalls. Iwas the
long-haired ‘old man’who seemingly lived in
Shopper’s basement labs, condemned to
conduct inkjet print tests and argue about
magazinet
Apple
T
Sh
a
w
p
in
mos
overflow
words.Occasi IT WAS ALLtootempting, when Iwas asked if I’d like to reminisce
over my time writing forComputerShopper,torattle on about how
much the technology has changed over all those years. But although
the rateofprogress has been relentless, social changes have been
no less remarkable.
When Ifirst wroteforShopper,Iwas in the minority in owning a
PC. Today, PCs and other computing devices are everywhere.But
whilethatmight suggest they’ve become commodity items, I’d
never view aPCinthe same wayasadishwasher.Ubiquitous they
maybebut,tome–and to you, I’m guessing –computers are
every bit as enthralling as ever,and mayitalways be so.
Mike Bedford, feature writer,issue 35 –
h
