80 Micro, which gets a lot of coverage in the Welshes' book, is a particular favorite of mine from this era. It was founded by Wayne Green, a lifelong entrepreneur and electronics fan who got his start in mag-dom launching 73, a ham radio title, in 1960.

He was the original publisher of Byte, the first really big PC magazine, but quickly lost control of it to his ex-wife and soon after launched a whole spate of computer mags in the late '70s and early '80s. 80 Microcomputing was one of those titles, covering the TRS-80 and other computers sold at Radio Shack stores (despite the fact Radio Shack itself never stocked the mag).

Green is a man of controversial opinions -- on his website, you'll find (among other things) books for sale on how NASA faked the moon landings and the US government carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing -- and his magazine's relationship with Tandy was never too friendly.

The very first issue features Green lambasting the computer's weaknesses ("the monitor has the bandwidth of a cheap black and white television set instead of clear and crisp graphics, but hell's bells, it is a cheap black and white television set"), and while that issue had plenty of Tandy advertising, it didn't last after Green's love of editorial rumormongering and Tandy-baiting didn't subside. "For most of 80 Micro's life in my hands I refused to let Radio Shack advertise," Green is quoted in the book as saying. "I did at first, but [Tandy CEO John] Roach quickly started trying to throw their weight around."

Despite (or perhaps because of) Green's bashing, 80 Micro attracted a broad audience of readers that kept the title going until 1987, long after Green had sold the mag and the TRS series had ceased to be a major platform. Why? Because like all the other really good computer titles of the time, it created a sense of camaderie amongst its readers.

People, normal Joes, purchased a computer from Radio Shack and had no idea what to do with it once they were done browsing through the instruction manual. They picked up this magazine, and there they found lots of other people like them, experimenting with the machine in their own fields of expertise and sharing their neato-keen insights with the rest of the world. It was eye-opening to many, and to some it opened up a new hobby and a new way of life.

In other words, the writers and readers fed off each other in the exact same productive way you see happening in blogs and forums today...just at a bit of a slower pace.

[Kevin Gifford breeds ferrets and runs Magweasel, a really cool weblog about games and Japan and "the industry" and things. In his spare time he does writing and translation for lots and lots of publishers and game companies.]