🚀 go-pugleaf

The attached message is from ARPAnet INFO-ATARI@Score.  Please do
not respond to me with comments for the original author.  I am
trying to limit myself to forwarding only news messages of general
interest.

    Dan Fleysher

--------------------

To: info-atari@su-score.ARPA
Subject: ANTIC & ANALOG
Date: 23 Apr 85 09:12:59 EST (Tue)
From: Walt Lazear <lazear@mitre.ARPA>

I have subscribed to both magazines for around two years.  
ANALOG seemed to present better software (games and utilities)
with more sophisticated use of Atari's capabilities.
The last half year, though, I am having trouble telling them
apart.  They both present the same utilities (cross reference
of BASIC programs, name table printers, etc.) and the
quality of the games is *way* down.  I have even tried to
detect if the utilities were submitted by the same person
(or the same code).  It seems clear to me that they both
use the same techniques in the programs, but they are not
direct copies.  

My problem is that I feel perhaps the Atari 800 architecture
has been exploited as far as it can, and that the magazines
have naturally gravitated to the same path of offering
retread programs to their readers.  Where I used to have
two sources of different information, I now have two sources
of the same information.  I guess I am disappointed that
the newness of the architecture has worn off, and I feel
ripped off by not being offered anything distinct between
the two magazines.  Yes, I have thought about cancelling
one of the subscriptions, but I keep hoping they will
diverge again.

I wonder if the software quality issue stems from people
turning to commercial sales of good software, instead of
publishing through the magazine?  Perhaps Softside should
have served as a better example for magazines of this type?
By the way, has anybody ever heard from Softside again?
They gave great promises of a new approach about a year
ago, but have remained silent since then.

[end of forwarded message]