Source: PC Magazine – March 1983

Old computer magazine sure were big. Big doesn’t really even begin to cover it. This issue of PC Magazine from March 1983 is 562 pages. How many reading this have ever even seen a magazine that large? Obviously there were a huge number of ads but there was also a lot of content. This issue includes:

First Look

• Introducing the IBM PC-XT and Company – IBM introduces a number of new products, most notable were the IBM PC XT, an enhancement to the original PC. A basic PC-XT system that included 128K of RAM, a 10 MB hard drive and 360K floppy drive would set you back $4,995. According to the first inflation calculator Google threw at me, that’s equivalent to $15,429.89 today.

Cover Stories

• Avoiding The Worst: How To Care For Your PC – Basic tips for caring for your PC, floppy disks, and more. Useful advice includes not spilling drinks on your keyboard, keeping disks in their protective sleeves, not smoking around your computer, and more.

• Block That Bolt, Hey! – Power surges and other power line problems were estimated to be responsible for 70-90 percent of computer equipment malfunctions. This article gives advice on using surge protectors and power line filters and compares several options.

• Living With Lapses In Your Power Line – Tips for handling power outages and brown outs including the use of uninterruptable power supplies and battery backed-up memory.

• Out Damned Spark – The damage static electricity can do and how to avoid it.

Legal

• The Ultimate Backup: Insuring Your PC – Making sure your computer is insured might sound like overkill but then considering a basic IBM PC XT system cost the equivalent of fifteen grand, maybe not so much.

Languages

• Programming With Funny Symbols – A look at the APL programming language.

• PC APLication – An evaluation of an APL implementation for the PC along with a performance comparison to BASIC.

• Keynotes – Customizing function keys to aid BASIC programming.

• The Fundamentals of BASIC – An introduction to BASIC with an emphasis on string manipulation.

• DR LOGO: A New Start For Beginners – A look at Digital Research’s new LOGO implementation.

Software

• 1-2-3: A Program You Can Count On – A look at Lotus 1-2-3 which combined spreadsheet and database functionality into one application.

• The Ultimate Spreadsheet – A look at MicroPlan and a comparison to VisiCalc.

• Guess What’s Coming To Dinner? – A look at a couple of programs designed for use in the kitchen, including Micro Cookbook, a recipe program and Diet Monitor, a tool for monitoring your diet.

Applications

• BankAmerica Plugs In To PC Power – BankAmerica invests heavily in IBM PCs to improve productivity.

• The Automated Agent Helps Performers Get Gigs – A look at Ibis, software that helps talent agents schedule events for the talent they represent.

PC Arcade

• At Ease With PC – Reviews of PC games including Apple Panic, Kaleida, Micro-Football, and The Chrome Ranger.

Word Processing

• The Select Approach – Review of Select, a word processor/spelling checker/mail merge program targeted at the business/professional market.

• Letter Imperfect – Review of TypeFaces, a product designed to allow you to produce various typefaces on certain dot matrix printers.

Business

• Parlez-Vous PC? – The IBM PC’s introduction to France.

• Tie Me IBM Down, Boys – Marketing PCs in Australia vs. the U.S.

Communications

• Let there Be Ethernet – A case stud of one of the first PC Ethernet installations.

• 1200 Baud: Speed Of Choice For PC Communications – How technological improvements will make 1200 baud modems affordable for most people.

Sight And Sound

• The PC Talks Back – A look at PC Parrot, a low cost voice synthesizer for the PC.

Utilities

• SimpliFile Takes The Mystery Out Of File Names – A review of SimpliFiles, a utility for adding descriptions to files so that it makes things easier to find than the default 8.3 filename restrictions in DOS.

PC Program Exchange

• How To Tell Time With TellTime – An educational program for teaching kids to tell time with analog clocks.

IBM Eye

• Anatomy Of A Colossus, Part III – The third part in a series on IBM and their future.

Book Excerpt

• Back To Basic – Excerpt of the book “Learning IBM BASIC For The Personal Computer” by David A. Lien.

Departments

• From the Editor’s Screen – A look at the current issue and what went into it.

• Letters to PC – Letters from readers about LOGO, exponential growth in the PC market, spelling programs, pagination problems, and much more.

• PC Comminques – Computer news including IBM talking with Matsushita about producing third party products with the IBM logo, a program for indexing books, and more.

• PC Tutor – Questions answered about DOS, including un-erasing files, chkdsk error messages, generating superscripts and subscripts, the difference between diskcopy and copy, hidden files, and more.

• New On The Market – A look at new products including ParlePC, a parallel input/output adapter with speech synthesis; 5 and 10 MB hard drives from Mountain Computers; a 256K memory board from Microlog; an 8-inch drive adapter for the PC; and much more.

• Club News – Info about the latest clubs, bulletin boards, and newsletters for the PC.

• User-To-User – Various programming tips from users.

…and more!