alt Hacker NewsHaving lived through this era, living in the UK, Byte always seemed more commercially orientated than hobbyist, but I would buy and read it all the same.
Hobbyist computing grew out of hobbyist electronics with the Altair 8800 kit featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975 being one of the first personal computers. My own first computer was also a kit (bag of components and a bare circuit board), the NASCOM-1, introduced a couple of years later in 1977 and featured on the cover of the first issue of Personal Computer World, which was the first UK magazine dedicated to this new hobby of computing.
Another great magazine of this era was Dr Dobbs (Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia. Running Light without Overbyte), which was also aimed at hobbyists, featuring lots of program listings. These American magazines like Byte & Dr Dobbs were easy to buy in high street newsagents in the UK.
> Having lived through this era, living in the UK, Byte always seemed more commercially orientated than hobbyist, but I would buy and read it all the same.
The hobbyist arena tended to fall more towards magazines like Popular Electronics, and the focus was much more the lower circuit levels. Byte dipped their toes into that arena via a few of the regular columnists, but that was not their target (despite the fact that many of us subscribers were "computer hobbyists" by most any definition of that term).