100 Issues of 60-Second Window...

I REMEMBER THAT STEAMY AUGUST EVENING in Boston's "Cheers" as if it were yesterday.

For hours on end, friend and colleague Don Rittner and I had ranted and raved about the growing online community. Sure, much of the talk was driven by those bottles that lined the table. But the important talk was spurred on by our new friend and associate Kathy Ryan -- then Product Development Manager for a new upstart called Quantum Computer Services.

Big changes were coming to the User Group Forum which we had built in Apple's in-house online service called Apple Link. Apple was "getting out" of the online business -- not caring to go up against the giant Compuserve. Alink was to be sold to Kathy's Virginia company the following October, and it was up to Don and Fred to help Kathy deliver the news to the community called user groups.

It would be a big announcement with much to do. We would announce it on the January 1990 MNS disk which was distributed to user group editors far and wide. We would tell the story of how Steve Case, Quantum's Executive Vice President changed the ALPE name to "America Online." Don would write it and Fred would vector the logo and build the ad slicks for user group newsletter editors.

Yes, those were exciting times, and most of the rest of this story you already know. But you may not know that along with the news of a new online service and its innovative new "graphical interface", the January diskette would also quietly carry the very first edition of a new monthly column called 60-Second Window.

The disk was pressed, shipped and the community liked it. From that point on, each month, I would write a general interest article that would be published by the user group newsletter editors. 60-Second windows began appearing in the newsletters of computer clubs all around the country.

As the months sped by there were articles about new painting programs; innovative technologies for desktop publishing, printing smooth typography, or creating macros and font sets that could change as work demanded. And we editorialized... boy did we editorialize! 60-Second Window became a soapbox where the feelings of the community would echo -- issues that no other publication dared to speak of -- the rise and fall of giants, the launch and crash of computer publishing innovations... the comings and goings of rants and raves. And it continues today.

For the past 100 issues of 60-Second Window I thank you. That's right -- YOU. I thank you for reading, and for allowing us to share just 60 seconds of your precious time each month. Most importantly, I thank you for the thousands of letters and comments over the years -- helping keep 60-Second Window alive and well.

As we embark on the path toward our 200th issue, I leave you today with a challenge: participate. Share your opinions, rants and raves with the 60-Second Window community of readers. Make it your column and the community will benefit. See'ya next month.

Thanks for reading
Fred Showker

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