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                          Diskmags the case for..
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There's been a  lot of recent talk  of the impending death and final collapse of
the disk magazine on Atari TOS computers, in its classic custom shell format.
With the  release of the  current issues of  Chosneck, and Alive! There was some
considerable  agonising as to whether these were going to be their fateful final
issues?

For one of  these at least, it turns  out that is thankfully not going to be the
case, but a big  question mark  still hangs over  the longer term future  of the
classic diskmag. Is it still viable in a smaller scene, and set against the ever
changing dynamic of the world wide web?

Recent events  have highlighted certain  problems with diskmag production. These
require the  co-operation of  several people, possibly  more so  than most other
kinds of scene activity? If one party isn't up to it, then the whole process can
come crashing down in a tangle of recriminations and disappointment.
There is the eternal  and oft-discussed  issue of the  general level of external
contributions.
Many diskmags end  up being mostly written by an insanely dedicated editor, with
only a  limited amount  of outside help. The  one thing above all else  that can
cause extreme  anxiety and  disillusion amongst diskmag  editors, are repeatedly
broken  deadlines, I won't tread too far down this well-worn path otherwise I'll
start screaming, but you all know what I am on about here!

I might go as  far to argue that  the job of a diskmag editor is one of the most
stressful  on the scene. I do write  from extensive personal experience here, so
I'm not  surprised if editors  end up feeling burnt  out and fed up. Even  I, of
many years  experience found the  final issues of Maggie very hard going, and in
my darker moments, seriously doubted whether there would be any release at all.
Part of the reason for merging interests with STS to kick off with Alive! was to
halve the  editorial angst load I was getting back then. This worked pretty well
for me, but unfortunately, not so well for Seb in the end.

Getting off  the moaning track, and  back on topic, the world wide web has taken
away the  impact of the  classic diskmag  as the main news  provider. We are  no
longer the first to carry the breathless stories of new releases and events.
Typically a good  scene website, like dhs.nu has taken this over. It is there we
go for our 'just happened?' news hit.
They have also taken  over the  community and  scene feedback  and bbs role too,
which regular diskmag issues once maintained.

We  have  even seen  a growth  of  full-blown webzines, such  as MyAtari  on the
general  computing  side, although  we  are  yet  to  see  a  similar  demoscene
orientated webzine?

But on other  platforms, demo scene  based diskmags  still seem to  survive. For
example, pouet.net carries  headlines announcing the 10th anniversary issue of a
famous PeeCee diskmag "Pain" (26.3.04). Our  old friend 'Hugi' has a  strong web
presence, but  they  are  still  very much  into  releasing  custom  shell-based
diskmags  infrequently. Why should we Atarians have to stop now? Indeed, what is
it that appeals about the classic diskmag?

I'll bring in two pertinent words. These are 'quantity' and 'depth'.
Your typical  www-zine is updated in a bitty fragmentary fashion. A good webzine
like MyAtari makes  the effort to create proper identifiable monthly issues. The
frequent turnaround does make for smaller issue sizes though, sometimes an issue
can consist of only around half a dozen articles.
This would  not really be  satisfactory, if  this was applied  to a custom shell
format distributed on a floppy disk.

Other webzines  are updated  an article or two  at a time. Unless they  are done
properly  and the  fact that  content changes  have taken  place are  frequently
publicised, these tend  to tend to turn  into a bland uninteresting mush after a
while. A compost heap of half-dead thoughts and views read by almost no-one.
I can't get  inspired by the  webzine concept for  the most part, often they are
not worth the  effort of  clicking on  the same old links. Call me a clapped out
old diskmag editor if you must, but if this is the future, it sucks deeply!
That being  said, I don't have  any problems with  the www-versions of  existing
diskmags  such as Alive, Chosneck and UCM, which do  succeed in reproducing most
of the original diskmag experience for the benefit of a wider audience.

A diskmag  on the other  hand slaps you  around the  head with a distinctive and
packed  issue  with a  particular character  and feel  for the  time it  was put
together. You can judge a book by its cover in this case!
A decent  diskmag release  feels like  a special  occasion. If an issue is  only
occasionally  released, it  has  had  sufficient  time  to  build  up  a  decent
collection of in-depth articles.
Classic diskmags are still  best at  detailed  reviews, and  have  the luxury of
space for  epic party reports and lengthy polems on the state of the scene among
other things. There is still a tendency for people to think of the web as a time
and space  restricted medium, and they only tend to offer a condensed version of
events. You  are trading off immediacy  for depth. Maybe as net access gets more
broadband in  nature, people will  shrug off this habit, and learn to think in a
longer slower and more contemplative manner about their web content?

Of course, a  diskmag  has  scope for miscellanous  topics which  may or  not be
connected with  the scene. Grud knows, I've abused the medium to the max in that
respect! But again, with  the 'reading-lite' manner found on the web this option
is not usually found in most webzines.
I will point to MyAtari as an honourable exception to that rule. They do tend to
make an effort on the writing with their stuff.

I think there  should be a new  approach to the  classic custom shell  diskmags.
There is  still a lingering  assumption by the rest  of the scene that these are
'cheaply' available. This  attitude dates from the golden olden scene days, when
publications  were many and  varied, and  issues  were frequent, not  to mention
"variable" in quality!
With a lessening  of contributions, and  lengthening lead times  between issues,
diskmags  have now  become as  rare and precious  as a  good game or a top class
demo. I'm happy  to say at the quality  is far higher than ever, so the extended
length of production has that positive effect in getting a polished end product.
I do think  people are realising  this now, as we witness the positive reactions
whenever a new issue of Alive, Chosneck, and of course, UCM is released.
Maybe someone should  find a way of boosting morale and production from us hard-
pressed editors!

Anyway, I think the classic diskmag deserves to continue on Atari. It would be a
great shame to lose such a distinctive and unique part of the scene.

                                                                   Chris Holland
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