Editorial license. (publication of Compute magazine and Omni magazine) (Editorial)
by Clifton Karnes

That's right. The issue you hold in your hands does say February/March. But don't worry--we're not going bimonthly, and subscribers aren't going to lose an issue. If you signed on to COMPUTE for a year, you'll still get 12 issues. For example, if your subscription was due to run out in May 1992, now it will expire in June 1992.

Why the combined issue, then? Here's the story.

As many of you know, COMPUTE used to be part of ABC, the network that made the phrase up close and personal part of our national culture. Well, in May 1990, COMPUTE was purchased from ABC by GMI, a dynamic company that publishes a score of magazines, including the popular OMNI.

>From the beginning of our relationship with GMI, COMPUTE and OMNI have been closely related. The readers of the two magazines have much in common, and as a result, we often cover the same topics, though from different points of view. COMPUTE has remained a hands-on magazine for PC owners, and OMNI is a trailblazer of science fact, fiction, and opinion.

The close relationship between COMPUTE and OMNI was further enhanced last year when COMPUTE's senior editor, Keith Ferrell, left COMPUTE to take over the position of editor at OMNI. Even after he left COMPUTE, Keith continued on our masthead as senior editor emeritus, and he always made himself available for advice and encouragement.

With so much in common, it made sense to bring the magazines together in one location. So OMNI has moved from its offices in New York City to Greensboro, North Carolina, COMPUTE's home.

This move has two major benefits. First, the two magazines can share physical resources. COMPUTE has a leading edge network system with more capacity than we need. And COMPUTE's offices boast more than enough room for an extra staff. The second major benefit of OMNI's move is the day-to-day contact we'll have with each other. We expect the exchange of ideas, technical information, and gossip to be invigorating for both groups.

So, what does all this have to do with the February/March on your issue? With COMPUTE and OMNI working together and sharing production facilities, we needed to move the two magazines' on-sale dates two weeks apart so that both publications wouldn't be requiring the same resources at the same time. After much discussion, it seemed that the best way to do this was to make COMPUTE's February issue our February/March installment and to have our April issue appear on the newsstand two weeks earlier than it would have.

As a result of this change, our PC Disk and Amiga Resource Disk will be changing months. PC Disk, which appears every other month, used to accompany issues in even-numbered months: February, April, June, and so on. The disk will accompany the February/March issue (as it normally would), but since the next every-other-month issue is May, the disk will accompany that issue and wil correspond with odd-numbered issues from then on.

Similarly, Amiga Resource Disk, which used to ship in odd-numbered months, will appear in even-numbered months after the February/March issue.

This may sound complicated, but it isn't really. Whether you subscribed to PC Disk or Amiga Resource Disk, you'll continue to get your disk every other month, but since we have just one issue for February and March, the name of the month appearing on the magazine will change. That's all there is to it.

What does this change mean to you? As I said earlier, if you signed up to 12 issues, you'll still get 12. So you won't lose anything. And you'll be getting your issues earlier. From April onward, you'll see COMPUTE at least two weeks earlier than you used to.

When you look at the big picture of OMNI's move to Greensboro, there's no downside. Both magazines will continue to serve their audiences with the highest-quality information possible. COMPUTE will still focus on the leading edge of PC software and hardware technology, and OMNI will still tackle challenging issues in the scientific realm. COMPUTE readers will get their magazine two weeks earlier, and everyone--readers, as well as COMPUTE and OMNI staff--will benefit from the closer relationship.