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From: chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)

Date: 4 Mar 88 01:03:14 GMT

Well, it's hit the newstand. HyperAge, the first HyperCard specialty
magazine. It's got John Sculley on the cover. It's got Danny Goodman
(rapidly nearing the record for most simultaneous columns, currently held by
John "what, me worry?" Dvorak). It's got Ted Nelson, grand-pa-pa of
HyperText. It's got Mitchell Waite, who's putting together some HyperCard
books for the Waite Group.

It's got lots of sizzle. And almost no substance. I was rather disappointed.
Most first issues are, frankly, weak, because it's hard to get advertisers
for an unknown with no reader or subscriber base, it's hard to get people
lined up to write, it's hard to get hard news when you don't know your
publishing schedule (first issues tend to happen when the money does, not
when you plan them to). First issues are tough. 

Still, with the exception of Waite's column, there's lots of glitz and very
little HyperCard. Ted Nelson rhapsodizes on the road to Hypertext. Danny
Goodman talks about how he found God through HyperCard (well, not really,
but it reads that way). There's an article on Lotus' Agenda (is it
hypertext? What's it doing in a HyperCard magazine?). 

Mitchell Waite sits down and writes a NEAT script. The only scripts in the
entire magazine. Good Stuff, here. Hope to see it continue.

I'm being critical. I'm being REAL critical. It's not terrible. I'm not
burning the magazine, in fact I'm sending in my charter subscription. Why?
Because, while this issue is weak, it shows a lot of potential. Because this
magazine can become Hyper-Tutor, which deserves support (and a few well
placed letters). Or it can become Hyper-World, with glitz and gloss and few
techical details, at which point I've wasted $20 to give it a chance to
fulfill it's potential. To me, that's worth it. 

Take a look. If you're serious about HyperCard, think hard about
subscribing, giving it a chance. If you do, let the editors know what you
want in it, and with any luck, we'll get it.

(before I go, one final note: the layout and typography is very simplistic
and not terribly consistent. Hopefully when they get this thing moving
forward they'll bring in someone who can make the words as pretty as they
are useful... It's not bad, but it's not what I'd call a professional layout
yet. I've seen much worse....)



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HyperAge Magazine, Volume 1, #1