Disk mag
A disk mag is an electronic magazine that can be read using a computer . The syllable word "Diskmag" stands for " Disketten - Magazin " ( English disk magazine ). Before the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s, the usual way of distributing magazines, which were mostly self-taught by technically interested laypeople , was to pass them on to personal contacts or through contact sheets such as the computer flea market .
Structure and distribution
Diskmags differ from other electronic publications (e-mags and the like) in that they are usually embedded in a unique graphical user interface . This was created by programmers and graphic designers who are part of the editorial team. Most diskmags also contain background music .
Diskmags were not only passed on on floppy disks from the beginning, but also electronically, for example via mailbox systems (BBS) or the currently available Internet channels ( FTP , etc.). The associated free availability and the possibility of duplication was expressly desired for most diskmags.
Target groups
Especially for technically interested subcultures , diskmags were an easily available, inexpensive way to create their own medium with a more official character than an electronic text or hypertext document, for example . They are particularly popular in the demo scene . In terms of content, the magazines often revolve around computers and computer art . Many diskmags serve very special interest groups within their scene , for example programmers , crackers or ANSI artists .
Sometimes the term is also used for commercial magazines that consist only of a cover sheet or a few printed pages and the actual use of which is based on the enclosed diskette. A well-known example is Magic Disk 64 .
Examples
Some PC disk mags in German that are well known in the demo scene are Hugi or later Hugi.GER from Austria and WildMag and Cream from Germany. One of the most popular and long-lasting international disk mags was PAiN from Switzerland. In addition, a large number of short-lived disk mags emerged, of which often only one or two issues were published.
Diskmags are available for many different platforms, from IBM PCs to Commodore 64 and Amiga to video game consoles such as the Dreamcast . The first disk mag on the Amiga was called Cracker Journal . The first edition was published in January 1988 by the Alpha Flight 1970 group . It was published first in German and then in English.
Web links
- List of diskmags in the demoscene portal Pouet
- Diskmag archive on the Scene.org file server
Footnotes
- ↑ WildMag , one of the last German-language PC disk mags (2000–2001)
- ↑ PAiN , a long-lasting PC disk mag (English, 1994–2007)
- ↑ Digital Talk , a long-lasting C64 / C128 disk mag (German, since 1993)
- ↑ Jurassic Pack ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , a long-lasting Amiga disk mag (English, 1995-2007)
- ↑ Scenedicate ( Memento from May 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), the first Dreamcast Diskmag (English, 2006)
- ↑ Cracker Journal , the first Amiga Diskmag (German / English, 1988–1992)
