Remembering Wayne Green

Wayne Green, who founded or co-founded many early computer magazines including BYTE, 80 Micro, Kilobaud Microcomputing, Run, and InCider, passed away earlier this month at age 91. Wayne was a polarizing figure in the early days of the microcomputer; he had strong, often unpopular opinions and was not afraid to express them.

I saw this first hand when I started working for 80 Micro in early 1981. Being the new guy, I was given the “honor” of editing Wayne’s editorials. I worked on those first few editorials with a feeling of dread. How could I, the most junior editorial person, tell the owner of the company that our readers might find his writing offensive or, in the worst cases, libelous?

Once I gathered the courage to challenge him, Wayne proved to be quite reasonable. This was the first lesson I learned from Wayne: If you believe you’re right, don’t be afraid to speak up. It also provided my first insight into who Wayne really was. I believe Wayne knew some of the drafts he submitted were unpublishable. It was his way of testing us.

Another lesson I learned is that sometimes doing is better than thinking, even if in the end you fail. If Wayne thought a new magazine or business idea was worth trying, we launched it with little debate and no real research. Wayne failed more times than he succeeded, but I doubt he would have had all his successes if he hadn’t gone with his gut and taken a more conservative approach.

When I heard of Wayne’s death, I rummaged through my files to see what I had from my days at Wayne Green Inc. What I found was a thick folder of Wayne’s editorials, all original drafts with editing mark-ups. (In the early 80s, we still used typewriters and edited on paper. Our production staff would re-key articles into our typesetting system.)

What was most interesting about the drafts is the paper he used to type them on. Wayne was notoriously frugal, and nearly every sheet he used for his editorials was the backside of old letterhead, press releases, and promotional material. Together, they reveal some of the history of Wayne’s ventures.

For example, I had forgotten that Wayne produced a computer show, Computermania, which was held in Boston. This is ironic, since one of his editorials talks about how all computer shows are worthless. The scan below shows the list of exhibitors, including IBM, IMSAI, Wang, Northstar, and Ohio Scientific. I think this show took place in 1980.

At one time, Wayne was one of the largest sellers of microcomputer software. The page below shows just a few of the items sold through the Instant Software catalog.

He was also a major publisher of books for hams and computerists:

What this all shows is that Wayne provided many channels for early microcomputer pioneers to reach customers and establish themselves. Love him or hate him, Wayne was instrumental in building the commercial ecosystem that allowed the early microcomputer industry to grow into what it is today.

Six Milestone Computing Ads

In 1923, Ned Jordan created an advertisement that changed the way cars were sold. Jordan’s company sold a sporty roadster called the Playboy. “Somewhere west of Laramie there’s a bronco-busting, steer-roping girl who knows what I’m talking about,” the ad began. “She can tell what a sassy pony that’s a cross between greased lightning and the place where it hits, can do with eleven hundred pounds of steel and action when he’s going high, wide and handsome. The truth is — the Playboy was built for her.”

No mention was made of horsepower, type of engine, or other technical details. Jordan’s ad was a pure emotional sell, and it set the tone for automotive advertising to this day.

Microcomputer advertising has its defining moments, too, although none as influential as Jordan’s “Somewhere west of Laramie” ad. What follows is my list of the six most important moments in microcomputer advertising (in chronological order).

1. Sphere 1: Only a true electronics hobbyist would bother to read the earliest microcomputer ads. They used small type that provided technical information in excruciating detail. Sphere was one of the first companies that tried to expand the market beyond the hobbyists. Its ads in the fall of 1975 emphasized the competitive advantages that the Sphere 1 would provide a business or professional. The ads were still text-based and crude by today’s standards, but they signaled the beginning of the marketing of computers to the mass market.

2. MITS Altair 8800: Within a few months of the Sphere ads, MITS ran a series of ads that relied more on images than text. One had a photo of a billiards hall with a pool shark leaning on on an Altair. The only text on the page read, “The MITS Altair 8800 (It’s showing up in some of the most unusual places.) Another showed a photo of Napoleon, and read, “If Napoleon had owned an Altair, things might have turned out differently.” These ads were more professionally produced and made a more emotional appeal than the Sphere ads. Again, the bar was raised for microcomputer advertising.

3. Apple II: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Apple realized that it first had to sell the public on the concept of owning a microcomputer. Ads that ran in the summer of 1977 began “You’ve just run out of excuses for not owning a personal computer.” Later ads would feature scientists, businesspeople (including Bill Gates), historical figures, and regular folks extolling the virtues of owning a personal computer. Tandy (Radio Shack) and Commodore took a similar approach, but Apple’s ads were by far more effective and professional.

4. Osborne 1:  Osborne also had a new concept to sell—a ready-to-use computer with bundled software in a portable system. Its early ads in 1981 took an “it’s about time” approach, claiming that this was the computer that businesses had been waiting for.  and played directplayed on the insecurities of businesspeople and professionals. Later ads showed two businessment, one with a briefcase and the other with an Osborne. The copy began, “The guy on the left doesn’t stand a chance.” The message: Get an Osborne before your competition does.

5. IBM PC: The message of the earliest IBM PC ads was basically: “We’re IBM. Buy our computer.” The more influential campaign began when IBM started using Charlie Chaplin as its icon for the PC. This provided a humanizing effect, taking the edge off the intimidating aspects of owning a computer and softening IBM’s image as a big, uncaring corporate giant. This was key for IBM to capture the small business market.

6. Macintosh: Apple’s famous “1984” TV commercial, aired during halftime at the 1984 Super Bowl, is one of the most talked about ads of all time. The ad immediately set the Mac apart from the IBM PC and its many clones and helped to establish a strong emotional bond among the user base that remains to this day. However, not many companies copied Apple’s approach, because by 1984 the microcomputer market was well on its way to becoming commoditized. With few exceptions, computer companies were focused on promoting their systems as better, cheaper, faster PCs.

The Mac Poster That Wasn’t

A former Apple employee is selling on eBay what he claims to be the first poster proposed for the launch of the Macintosh. Created in 1983 by Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folan, the poster features a whimsical image of a flying man with the Mac as his head. Steve Jobs killed this poster because he didn’t think it felt right. I have to agree with his decision.

Bidding starts at $2,500. If this were the original artwork for the poster actually used, I’d say the seller would have no problem getting his starting bid and more. The value of a poster that was not used would be far less. Every Mac fan knows the iconic image of the Mac used in that original poster shown here:

Artwork for the original Macintosh poster

That familiarity drives value. No one knows the image in the poster not used, and its uniqueness does not necessarily guarantee high value. That said, there is a strong market for Macintosh collectibles and it’s not always rational, so I am not going to make any predictions about where bidding will end on this auction.

Computer-Related Literature Bringing Big Bucks

An original binding of a lecture series given at the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1946 sold last week on eBay for $1728. The price is understandable when you consider that the lecturers included Howard Aiken, designer of the Harvard Mark I, and J. Presper Eckert, designer of the ENIAC and UNIVAC.

Eckert’s presentation came shortly after the ENIAC was announced, so this historically significant document represents one of the first public descriptions of the project.

Less understandable is the sale of the January and February 1975 issues of Popular Electronics earlier this year. These were the issues that contained the 2-part series on building the MITS Altair 8800. Copies of the January issue had typically sold for $200-$300, and the February issue, which did not have the Altair on the cover, typically sold for under $100. In fact, the latest eBay sale price for the January issue was $172, and for the February issue the price was $63.

Clearly, several bidders decided they had to have that particular pair of issues and drove up the price. These issues, while in demand by collectors, are not particularly rare.

When a truly rare and important document like the Moore School lecture series goes on the market, you have to expect to pay whatever your desire and wallet allows. For items like the two issues of Popular Electronics, a little patience will be rewarded.