Margot Comstock passed away on Friday, October 7th, 2022.
October 14, 2022 1:11 AM Subscribe
One of the most important women in Apple’s history never worked for Apple - "Margot Comstock took her winnings from a TV game show and bought a computer. It led to a magazine, which turned into a major hub for the nascent community of developers and fans of one of the most important computers in history."
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posted by Halloween Jack at 5:35 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:35 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
I was a huge Apple ][ kid during this era and I always admired Softalk magazine above the other Apple-oriented rags of the time. Nibble, Apple Orchard, Call A.P.P.L.E, etc. They always had a bit more inside baseball and well-known contributors than the rest. Learning about Margot's story, which I never knew, makes it all that more special.
Archive.org has a pretty solid collection of scanned issues for reading, but if you really want to see what Softalk was about check out the October 1982 issue. To me this was peak Apple ][. Macintosh was going to launch in 15 months.
But man, the history in this issue. The US Festival had concluded (Woz playing Defender! The Grateful Dead having a press conference in a pond!). Full-page ads from all the major players (Nasir Gebelli went solo? WTF?!?). Microsoft MultiPlan for Apple! Bob freaking Bishop showing off some wacky graphics trick that lets you mix Hi and Lo res?!? Choplifter dominating the sales charts!
Sorry, got a bit fanboyish there. What a great time.
Thank you, Margot.
.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:36 AM on October 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
Archive.org has a pretty solid collection of scanned issues for reading, but if you really want to see what Softalk was about check out the October 1982 issue. To me this was peak Apple ][. Macintosh was going to launch in 15 months.
But man, the history in this issue. The US Festival had concluded (Woz playing Defender! The Grateful Dead having a press conference in a pond!). Full-page ads from all the major players (Nasir Gebelli went solo? WTF?!?). Microsoft MultiPlan for Apple! Bob freaking Bishop showing off some wacky graphics trick that lets you mix Hi and Lo res?!? Choplifter dominating the sales charts!
Sorry, got a bit fanboyish there. What a great time.
Thank you, Margot.
.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:36 AM on October 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
.
posted by jim in austin at 6:44 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by jim in austin at 6:44 AM on October 14, 2022
Softalk published the only review I saw for a game I wrote when I was 14. It was a favorable review for a so-so game, which I appreciated. Thanks, Margot.
posted by plinth at 6:45 AM on October 14, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by plinth at 6:45 AM on October 14, 2022 [20 favorites]
Incidentally, Wikipedia torpedoed Margot Comstock's page as soon as it was created. This is done by marking the page as draft and allowing it to get deleted via inaction, as I (perhaps imperfectly) understand the process.
If any Wikipedians with clout are reading this, be nice to get the bros out of the picture and let the page get published.
posted by Jubal Kessler at 6:48 AM on October 14, 2022 [16 favorites]
If any Wikipedians with clout are reading this, be nice to get the bros out of the picture and let the page get published.
posted by Jubal Kessler at 6:48 AM on October 14, 2022 [16 favorites]
When I got my first Apple ][, an entirely new world opened for me. First, I had to figure out the machinations of the device, what it took to boot it up, how to move about in the interface, and how to use the limited amount of software that I had. Without magazines with current information, I don't think I would have succeeded, either that or it would have taken far longer than it did. They were chock-full of useful information and were always a welcome sight in my mailbox.
One of things I mastered pretty quickly was using a 300 baud modem, which opened up the nascent BBS scene and my first purely online friends. We'd often have meetups, and it was always strange to see the differences between an online persona and the real-life person behind it.
Along the way, I learned how to code in Basic, at first by mimicking code samples from magazines, then on my own. Basic begat Pascal, then eventually C.
Shortly after all of that came university...where I was introduced to Unix machines, and the proto-Internet. The Internet then was filled with real experts who had a strict code of ethics and conduct, and those experts would not hesitate to call one out for breaking those rules. At the same time, those folks were generous with their time and knowledge, and they were great teachers. The Internet was alluring -- instead of being a slow-motion store-and-forward network like FidoNet or WWIVNet, it was close to real-time and that greatly enhanced the quality of the conversations.
Later, it all started to come together: some acquaintances at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke created the Usenet, which organized topics into easily navigated areas. The Usenet does not get the credit it deserves IMO, as it really started making the Internet appealing to the masses long before Tim Berners-Lee ever published the World Wide Web. I think it had a lot to do with the eventual release of the Internet to the public at large, and from there, well, it's all history.
Computing became my career, one that has been well-rewarded for the work I've done, and it was in part thanks to the head start provided by publishers like Magot Comstock, Jerry Pournelle, and others.
posted by wolpfack at 6:54 AM on October 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
One of things I mastered pretty quickly was using a 300 baud modem, which opened up the nascent BBS scene and my first purely online friends. We'd often have meetups, and it was always strange to see the differences between an online persona and the real-life person behind it.
Along the way, I learned how to code in Basic, at first by mimicking code samples from magazines, then on my own. Basic begat Pascal, then eventually C.
Shortly after all of that came university...where I was introduced to Unix machines, and the proto-Internet. The Internet then was filled with real experts who had a strict code of ethics and conduct, and those experts would not hesitate to call one out for breaking those rules. At the same time, those folks were generous with their time and knowledge, and they were great teachers. The Internet was alluring -- instead of being a slow-motion store-and-forward network like FidoNet or WWIVNet, it was close to real-time and that greatly enhanced the quality of the conversations.
Later, it all started to come together: some acquaintances at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke created the Usenet, which organized topics into easily navigated areas. The Usenet does not get the credit it deserves IMO, as it really started making the Internet appealing to the masses long before Tim Berners-Lee ever published the World Wide Web. I think it had a lot to do with the eventual release of the Internet to the public at large, and from there, well, it's all history.
Computing became my career, one that has been well-rewarded for the work I've done, and it was in part thanks to the head start provided by publishers like Magot Comstock, Jerry Pournelle, and others.
posted by wolpfack at 6:54 AM on October 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
+
posted by JoeXIII007 at 9:44 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by JoeXIII007 at 9:44 AM on October 14, 2022
I highly recommend that Password Plus video of Margot's victory, if only to see how 70sish the early 80s actually were. It's a full half-hour, including local ads (which are as painful to watch now as they were then).
1982 was a fascinating year, because hardly anyone saw the Macintosh coming. I went to a software conference that summer, where the big item was Woz talking about why the Apple III was such a dud. Windows 1.0 had been out for a couple of years, but was a joke. The Lisa would ship in a year, but its high price kept it out of the radar of most hobbyists, and spreadsheet experts as well.
I had seen that 1981 Smalltalk Byte issue (the one with the balloon on the cover), and had a Unix account at university, but it was all plain text on 80x24 terminals. I'm not sure we even knew about the Xerox Star.
So this story documents that first era of personal computing so well. When networks were still things that happened in real life with people meeting at hotels and restaurants.
posted by morspin at 12:08 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
1982 was a fascinating year, because hardly anyone saw the Macintosh coming. I went to a software conference that summer, where the big item was Woz talking about why the Apple III was such a dud. Windows 1.0 had been out for a couple of years, but was a joke. The Lisa would ship in a year, but its high price kept it out of the radar of most hobbyists, and spreadsheet experts as well.
I had seen that 1981 Smalltalk Byte issue (the one with the balloon on the cover), and had a Unix account at university, but it was all plain text on 80x24 terminals. I'm not sure we even knew about the Xerox Star.
So this story documents that first era of personal computing so well. When networks were still things that happened in real life with people meeting at hotels and restaurants.
posted by morspin at 12:08 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I remember the profiles of "power users", like the guy who put an Apple II on his ultralight aircraft.
If you weren't connected to a user group or anything similar, these magazines were the only source of news on the world of computing. Even the advertisements were valuable. And it had technical bits, like the series on how DOS and floppy drives worked.
I had no idea it was all because of a TV game show and Loretta Swit!
.
posted by credulous at 3:13 PM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you weren't connected to a user group or anything similar, these magazines were the only source of news on the world of computing. Even the advertisements were valuable. And it had technical bits, like the series on how DOS and floppy drives worked.
I had no idea it was all because of a TV game show and Loretta Swit!
.
posted by credulous at 3:13 PM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
That initial Wikipedia article did need a lot of work to meet ordinary community standards for new articles, and it was helpful that the reviewer converted it to a draft instead of just deleting it. Needs more sources, but it's up now.
posted by dreamyshade at 3:40 PM on October 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by dreamyshade at 3:40 PM on October 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
people more excited by the social and cultural elements of computing than the technical.
She did WIRED Magazine before WIRED!
posted by bendy at 4:56 AM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
She did WIRED Magazine before WIRED!
posted by bendy at 4:56 AM on October 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
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