_{Cover of the May 29, 1984 issue of PC Magazine}

PC Magazine was one of the most popular PC magazines around from the early to mid 1980s through the early 2000s. Along with PC World, you could find it at pretty much every bookstore and newsstand as well as most other places that sold magazines. The May 29, 1984 issue includes:

Cover Stories

Inside the PC Portable - A detailed look at IBM's new portable. This was a suitcase sized luggable that had to be plugged in similar to the Compaq Portable which beat it to market, not to be confused with later laptops. It does have an amber screen which I like better than the green screen of the Compaq.

IBM Joins the Suitcase Set - More about the IBM portable and the marketing decisions that went into produce a competitor to Compaq's luggable vs. focusing on more portable options.

Features

All the President's PC's - An article on EOPNET, a network of IBM PC XTs and supporting hardware (such as a couple IBM 3083 mainframes) in the Whitehouse used to keep Presidential aids up to date.

The MLA Learns a New Language - How the Modern Language Association is using computers.

PC's and Social Scientists: The Chemistry is Right - While mainframes had long been used in social sciences, the personal computer was starting to shake things up.

The PC Goes to Bat - How Dave Johnson, the manager at the time of the New York Metz, was using a PC-XT and dBASE II to create computer-aided batting lineups.

Farm Workers Get a PC of the Action - How the PC was being used in two new educational programs designed to help migrant and seasonal farm workers.

Live Free with UNIX - Instead of assuming hardware time was expensive and programmer time was cheap, UNIX assumes the opposite is true. A short history and description of the UNIX operating system.

Understanding UNIX - An introduction to the world of UNIX and a brief tutorial.

Taking the Cue from UNIX - A look at the QNX operating system for the IBM PC.

A UNIX to be Proud of - A look at the XENIX operating system, Microsoft's version of UNIX.

A Classy Idris in the UNIX Neighborhood - A look at the Co-Idris operating system which is a multi-user UNIX lookalike for 8086/8088 based machines.

A Daisy Wheel Printer with Extra Petals - A look at Diablo's 630 ECS letter quality printer. Daisy wheel printers worked like a typewriter so they were very high quality but could not generally print graphics.

Offbeat Solutions to Common Problems - A look at various unique products including the Rolltop Disk File and Disk Jockey disk storage devices, various lamps designed for cutting down monitor glare, tractor feed paper with less obvious perforations, and much more.

Assembly Language: Putting the Macro Assembler to Work - An excerpt from the book Assembly Language Primer for the IBM PC by Robert Lafore which includes three programs.

Electronic Writing: The PC Tapping at the Chamber Door - How word processing has changed the art of writing.

Putting Your Correspondence in Good Form - A look at two software products, Gold Letters and Letterform 1000, that provide a variety of form letters.

Mainframe to Manager: Accessing Corporate Information - The advantages of using a DBMS to allow access to corporate data from a PC.

_{Table of Contents from the May 29, 1984 issue of PC Magazine}

Columns

On the Road: Writing in Transit - A look at some options for travelling with a computer. Truly portable computers were not yet particularly common nor were they cheap. A couple of machines looked at here include the Anderson-Jacobson Passport, Compaq Portable, and Radio Shack Model 100.

Author, Author - A look at the state of computer aided instruction and courseware development systems.

Building a Medical Database: A Case History - Using DataEase, a menu driven database management system, to build a medical database.

Developing an Electronic Survey - Using a PC to collect data and analyze survey results.

A Well-Fed Printer - Choosing the correct paper-feed mechanism in the context of law documents.

A PC Pen Plotter - How to use a dot matrix printer as a low cost pen plotter.

Put Your PC on Automatic Pilot - Software to automate online activities such as downloading e-mail.

_{Table of Contents from the May 29, 1984 issue of PC Magazine (continued)}

Departments

PC News - A new color monitor for the PCjr, new 32-bit UNIX machine from AT&T, DisplayWrite 1 & 2, and more.

Fact of Fiction? - Clearing up the facts about UNIX.

The Hidden Costs of Software - The advantages and disadvantages of writing your own software vs. purchasing a commercial package.

Letters to PC - Letters from readers on poor documentation, copying software, the TI Professional Computer, a PC energy management system, and much more.

Shells: A New Face for DOS? - A look at the demand for Shells, software that wraps the operating system in an easier to use interface driven by menus.

The Future State of the Art: Computer Sight - A look at ways we will have to give computers sight in the future.

The Thrill is Gone - A look at classic arcade conversions for the PC such as Pac-Man, Defender, Stargate, and more.
Deciphering the Life of Turing - A book review of Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.

New on the Market - A brief look at new products including the PC/STD Link, Micro7400 Protocol Converter, LetterPro 20 daisy wheel printer, 5MB SX410 Cartridge Drive, PC Eye Video Capture System, and more.