Computer Shopper - UK (2021-01)

ISSUE395|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2021 19

Ogg Vorbis. All ofuslived in fear ofeditor
Paul Sanders’ forensic dissections ofour work.
Back then we usually managed to spend at
least one afternoon amonth in the pub,on
the dayweclosed each issue.These were also
the last days of splendid press launches,
where even anew mono laser printer might
merit acouple of days in Rome.There was
camaraderiewithourfellow
nnisPublishing
nderdogs, agentle
rivalry withPC Pro,
and the kind of
organised chaos
you’d expect as the
deadlines ticked by.
London didn’t work
out forme, and after
reeyearsIleftwhatwas,
andprobablystillis,my
dreamjob.AlmosteversinceI’vebeen
privilegedtoremainoneofShopper’s
freelancecontributors.Theseareuncertain
anddifficulttimeswherepeoplearelosing
worse things than magazines, but the end of
Shopperis still ablow to the team and many
of our readers. Iloved my 16 years on the
magazine –Ihopeyou enjoyed it as much as
we all did.
Simon Handby, reviewer and Helpfile
editor,issue 197 –

SHOPPER,ASITwas simply called by those
who worked on it, which Idid forover 10
years as reviews editor and features editor,
was less of abridge and more aspaghetti
junction of interlocking spans.
It spanned the ages, starting before the
internet was athing, and seeing the birth
of 3D games, digital photography,home
printing, broadband and Wi-Fi, digital TV,
the rise of the smartphone and tablet, and
now the smart home.
To take just one example,Shopperhelped
people digitise their old photos and videos, it
helped them to buy aDVD burner to store
themon,andlatera
NASwhenthatbecame
he vogue,before
helping them upload
mages to asuitable
cloud service to share
them safely with
friends and family.
Shopperalso
spanned the gap
between those long
enthusiastic about
its subject matter,
and those who just
wanted advice on
buying their first PC. It was always careful
not to talk down to people,but never to
presume great knowledge,either.
And, despiteits name,Shopperwas never
just about buying things. It also built bridges
intoanunknown future,much likeTomorrow’s
World.Weran features on crowd-sourcing
(before there was ever Uber), monetary

evolution(beforeApplePay),the

environmental impact of server farms (before

Google Drive or Netflix), and MEMs (er...

we’re still waiting on those,admittedly).

But whatShoppernever

did was focusonthe

negative or peddle fear.

The brand was always about

providing knowledge and

understanding, but through

enthusiasm and beliefinits

subject matter,not to try

and ward off some unseen

threat. I’m sad to see it go.

And as it went on, it

spanned out again. The PC

was always the centre of

its world, but it quickly

became as much about

what you connected to

your PC, and finding ways totestit.I

remember us decamping foraweek to our

then editor’s home in St Albans to test

wireless routers in an appropriate

environment –which our office wasnot.

Andalso the reams of paper consumed by

the endless printer testing, in order to find

the crispest text and prints.

Seth Barton, reviews and features editor,

2005 –

BECOMING ASTA FFwriter onShopperwas

my break –the job that led to acareer.Iloved

it. The team and contributors were genuinely

driven to createamagazine that was as good,

and as helpful, as it could possibly be.

What’s more,even in the darkest days of

30-motherboard group tests with VIA and

nForce2 chipsets, we had alot of fun.

Iendedupaseditor,andmyfavouritejob

wasputtingtogethertheletterspages.Iwas

struckbyhowknowledgeableandenthusiastic

abouttechourreaderswere.So,here’sto

staffandfreelancerspast

and present, but mostly you –

those who liked what we did

enough to buy the magazine

month in, month out.

Chris Finnamore,reviewer and

editor,2005 –

HELPING TO PUTShopper

togetherhasalwaysbeenan

mmense privilege,but it was a

few weeks intomytenure before

truly felt the weight of the

esponsibility–literally,asit

appened,whenDavidLudlow

anded me an issue from the

early 1990s, and those things

were like Argos catalogues.

Still. 32 years. Agonisinglycloseto

400 issues. The page co

mayhavecomedown,b

magazine lasts that lon

without good people an

adedicated, passionate

readership –so, if you’r

reading this, you have

my deepest possible

thanks. Whether you’ve

been reading since befo

Iwas born (sorry) or on

started picking up them

these recent, exceedingy g

times, Ihopewewere able to meet your

deservedly high expectations. Cheers!

James Archer,reviews editor,2016 –

th

N t h i c t f

COMPUTERSHOPPERISgoing toleave abig hole for me,asI’vebeen writing for it for 16 years,

starting as reviews editor back in 2004, before becoming deputy editor,editor and even

publisher,before moving freelance and still contributing.

Since the dayIwalked intotheShopperoffices, Iloved the magazine,and Iloved working

with the teams over the years. Our focus was todeliver the best reviews and features, and we

had one rule: you had todothings properly.That meant we took things toextremes. When we

needed totest camera batterylife,we built arig out ofcomponents from the local Maplin.

Modern benchmarks weren’t good enough, so we wroteour own and let readers download

them. We made sure that everything was tested thoroughly: if you hadn’t sliced your hand open

on acheap PC case,you weren’t doing your job right.

More importantly,coming to work didn’t feel like aburden –itwas fun. Whowouldn’t want

to walk intoalab full of PC components and then get paid to playwith them? That was what

everyone who worked atShopperthought, as we were all true h i

atheart,withmanyofthefeatureideascomingfromproject

peoplewantedtoworkon.

Timeschangedandcontentstartedshiftingtotheweb,an

magazineshiftedfocustooffermorefeaturesandprojectsw

ever losing its desire to drive quality and interest, and withou

havingtodumbdown.

Thelatterpartiscompletelydowntothereaders.Havingr

lettersforthepast 16 years,ourbrilliantreadershavealways

ourtoesandexpectedqualitycontentcoveringoftencomple

topics. We did make the occasional mistake,but our readersw

theretoholdustoaccount,justasitshouldbe.

SoIdon’tjustthinkofShopperasmymagazine;itbelongs

to all of us.Thank you forreading, and thank you formaking

possible formetoturn my hobbyintoajob forsolong.

DavidLudlow,editor and publisher,2004 –

eenthusiasts

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