Editor John A. Burek Frequency Monthly Final issue April 2009 | Categories Computer magazine Year founded 1979 Company SX2 Media Labs | |
Computer Shopper was a monthly consumer computer magazine published by SX2 Media Labs. The magazine ceased print publication in April 2009. The publisher continues to run ComputerShopper.com, a related website.
Contents
History of Computer Shopper magazine
Computer Shopper magazine was established in 1979 in Titusville, Florida. It began as a tabloid-size publication on yellow newsprint that primarily contained classified advertising and ads for computers (then largely kit-built, hobbyist systems), parts, and software. The magazine was created by Glenn Patch, publisher of the photo-equipment magazine Shutterbug Ads, in the hopes of applying its formula to a PC-technology magazine.
The magazine rapidly expanded into the then-burgeoning area of popular factory-built computers such as the TRS-80, as well as models from Apple, Atari, Texas Instruments, and others. For a time, it was a popular source of information for users of these soon-to-be-outmoded home computers. Then, as the white box IBM PC compatible business exploded in the mid-1980s, it became a source of shopping info (having both editorial content and direct-sales advertising) for the clone-PC revolution. Dell and Gateway sold their wares through ads in the pages of Computer Shopper.
In August 1984, the first perfect-bound issue of Computer Shopper debuted (at 350 pages), and the phone-book-size magazine regularly topped the 800-page mark during the early 1990s. It was during this time that the magazine was sold to Ziff Davis Publishing - first as a limited partnership, then solely owned. It was later sold, in 2000, along with Ziff-Davis' ZDNet Web site, to CNET. CNET sold Computer Shopper to new owners, SX2 Media Labs, in 2006. In April 2009, SX2 Media Labs discontinued the print version of the magazine.
The business continued on as a Web entity, ComputerShopper.com, which was subsequently reacquired by Ziff-Davis, Inc., in 2012.
Magazine
Computer Shopper, the print magazine, comprised the following sections at the end of its publication:
Web Site
The web site is a portal with reviews, product roundups, help, and how-to coverage. It has a comparison-shopping component that allows buyers to connect with online sellers.
The site comprises central pages for all major computer hardware and software categories. One section lists the site's most recent coverage by category, while another lists guidance to the best products in a given category. The site provides summaries of how to shop for PC hardware and editors write about new product releases and first impressions.
A forum enables readers to engage in debate and get answers to computer buying questions and operating troubles. The site's download area provides access to free, shareware, and trial software apps, maintained by CNET.com.
List of editors-in-chief
- Stan Veit (1983-1989)
- Bob Lindstrom (1989-1991)
- John Dickinson (1991-1994)
- John Blackford (1994-2000)
- Janice Chen (2000-2006)
- Rik Fairlie (2006-2007)
- John A. Burek (2008–present)