RESET Magazine Memories

[bbking67]

I was an Atari 8-bit user in Ottawa, Canada. Back then, Ottawa had a great user group that met monthly in the National Research Council auditorium. NCAUG had a great newsletter due to the experience and expertise of several NCAUG members.

 

I was a young guy at the time, and had only a couple of high school friends who had Atari computers. One friend in particular, Hytham Khalil, got the Atari ST near launch. Well it was an amazing machine (though I was still a die hard 8-bitter). Hytham was extremely ambitious, and some time in 1986 after a rousing user group meeting we got talking about making a computer publication of some sort. Hytham's family had a printing and graphic design business, and with the emerging desktop publishing industry it seemed like a computer magazine would be easy to produce (boy were we wrong). Building momentum for the idea, Hytham spoke to many of the NCAUG leaders, including Bob Thompson, a professional editor by trade (and avid 8-bitter I might add). I was an editor and production assistant in addition to contributing articles.

 

The original issue (I would call it the beta version), a number of technical hurdles were worked out. Sales of the magazine were brisk and distributors were willing and able to take on the publication. Many computer stores were provided magazines directly. I should say that at that time, Atari looked unstoppable! The Canadian market was growing and the Atari machines were far cheaper than the Amiga alternative.

 

The production of the magazine used Atari computers extensively. The first issue was using manual paste up and a photo-typesetting machine, the next 2-3 issues used a postcript interface to a Linotronic L300 typesetter, and then the final issues were done with a 300DPI QMS PS800 postscript laser printer and Atari desktop publishing software. The Atari was to blame for some of the nasty kerning (which we manually corrected). The last issues done of the laser were really a cost-cutting measure, but we thought it added to the magazine as it was made by an Atari. Photos and half-tones (b&w images) were conventionally done not using the Atari directly.

 

There were some amazing people involved in the magazine, and some I remember (aside from Mr Khalil) include Bob Thompson, Jim Turner, Mike Riley, Glenn Brown, Dan Panke, Ross Judson and Randy Tchorznickis. There were plenty of other contributors, sorry if I have forgotten anyone.

 

We did attend many shows and I have fond memories of them. I got to meet Atari luminairies and a few celebrities. One thing I have to say, Hytham had the ability to work some magic. We went all over the place selling the magazines and drumming up advertising business. CES, Comdex, Atarifests and user groups were frequent stops. Some highlights:

 

- Comdex 1987 and 1988 - Saw David Small demonstrate Magic Sac with Bill Gates looking on in horror

- Met Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood and Billy Burnette were particularly nice) in an Atari hospitality suite after they played a blues set (no girls from the band, so they rocked out and Mick Fleetwood did an extended drum solo including a bit with a weird drum suit)

- Met Tom Harker, Mike Gustafson and the rest of the ICD team at their prime (at the time included Keith Ledbetter)

- Met Sam Tramiel (who told us his wife was actually from Kemptville a town near Ottawa and that he went there all the time)

- A team (I was not involved) interviewed Tangerine Dream about their use of Ataris (this was set up by Atari Canada)

- Met many Microsoft employees who were Atari fans at the Seattle Atarifest

- Met the folks behind the Atari version of WordPerfect (WordPerfect invested considerable resources into the Atari version)

 

By 1988, Atari started losing ground to the PC clones, a revitalized Amiga lineup and things seemed less optimistic. The magazine badly needed an infusion of cash and several venture capitalists were brought in to invest in the company (who had started to deliver other publications). The severe cashflow crunch left two issues at the printer--printed but not delivered.

 

Personally I left before the last issue (going on to work at a daily newspaper)

 

In late 2012, Hytham Khalil passed away suddenly at age 45.

[LoTonah]

Obviously I didn't know him, but 45 is too young to die. That sucks.

 

Sorry if I sound rude... but I was wondering if these issues have ever been scanned to .PDF and made available to download.

 

-Don

[kskunk]

Thanks for this great piece of history. Around the time of Atari RESET I was reading every Atari magazine I could get my hands on. The publishers and writers were rock stars to me, so it's great to hear what happened behind the scenes. I never imagined the people behind it could be teenagers themselves.

 

You are both lucky to have been there in that moment. I'm sure I speak for many people on AtariAge when I say, I'm envious! I wish I had been more involved in that moment, and watched the rise and fall up close like you did. You have some really great memories.

 

- KS

Edited September 14, 2013 by kskunk

[bbking67]

The funny thing is that I was working for an ST publication, but for at least the first year only had my 800XL. I wrote articles using a text editor and sent them over to work via BBS.

 

To answer the other question, I still have some magazines and posters kicking around. The other stuff is stored at my parents, so I should be able to scan in an issue or two. I definitely do not have a complete set (and I never saw the last 3 issues or so in complete form).

 

I had a business card folded up in the label of my filing cabinet drawer for the last 25 years or so.

[delvis]

_{Back in early 2000's I wrote for the on-line Atari Mag "My Atari.NET". It is cool to still have access to this stuff. Attached was the first issue from October 2000.}

_{It ran from 2000 to 2005.}

 

_{Hope RESET can get scanned and into the Atari world again.}

 

 

October2000.pdf

[beachboybogart]

Mike Riley reporting in. bbking67, what a memory. Delvis: thanks for that pdf of myAtari.net... great stuff.

 

At the time, we all worked for practically nothing and had high hopes for Reset. I was the Games Editor and Advertising Director; as such, I got to solicit all the free stuff I could get out of advertisers (which, being the Atari world, wasn't much). Mostly we paid for stuff we reviewed, like Glenn Brown and the Magic Sac with the Mac ROMS or whatever was required. It was pretty cool seeing our late-night work turning into a slick colour magazine, all done with desktop publishing software, so new in those days. I can't recall if it was Calamus (my favourite), PageStream, or one of several other tools that we used. But that stuff got me hooked on DTP and I made a career out of it.

[bbking67]

I made a career out of it too, betting sucked in to the PC networking boom and later the internet. I just remembered another tidbit... when the company (Khalil Publications) had expanded into other publications, the founder sought venture capital and Mike Rogers (from MASH) actually came down and met with him. He didn't invest, but it was interesting to have met a celebrity (Alan Alda from MASH had been an Atari spokesperson for a time).

 

I found the PC to be a significant downgrade by the time I sold my stuff. I sold my ST in 1989 or 1990 to raise cash for a Fender tube amp and actually used the 8-bit as a daily driver for a while. Bought a PC eventually, but I've never felt nostalgic about any other machines than the XL, XE and ST.