Electron User
Encyclopedia
Electron User was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron
microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport
, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990.
Initially it was included as a 16-page pullout supplement to The Micro User
but after four such editions it became a standalone title and within a year had grown to an average length of around 64 pages. The focus was news stories, type-in program
s and software reviews. It also contained cheat codes and a long-running column on adventure game
s initially by "Merlin" in a column entitled "Merlin's Cave" and subsequently by "Pendragon".
Its advertisers included the top BBC/Electron games distributors of the day, such as Acornsoft
and Superior Software
.
Often the April-dated edition of the magazine included an April Fools' Day
joke, generally consisting of a short machine code
type-in listing which claimed to do something extremely useful and of wide interest but which in fact printed APRIL FOOL on the screen. Examples included:
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990.
Initially it was included as a 16-page pullout supplement to The Micro User
The Micro User
The Micro User was a British specialist magazine catering to users of the BBC Microcomputer series, Acorn Electron, Acorn Archimedes and, to a limited extent, the Cambridge Z88...
but after four such editions it became a standalone title and within a year had grown to an average length of around 64 pages. The focus was news stories, type-in program
Type-in program
A type-in program, or just type-in, is a computer program listing printed in a computer magazine or book, meant to be typed in by the reader in order to run the program on a computer....
s and software reviews. It also contained cheat codes and a long-running column on adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s initially by "Merlin" in a column entitled "Merlin's Cave" and subsequently by "Pendragon".
Its advertisers included the top BBC/Electron games distributors of the day, such as Acornsoft
Acornsoft
Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers Ltd, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, they also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and utility packages - these included ROM-based word...
and Superior Software
Superior Software
Superior Software is a video game publisher. It was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson, two graduates of the University of Leeds, England...
.
Often the April-dated edition of the magazine included an April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
joke, generally consisting of a short machine code
Machine code
Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions executed directly by a computer's central processing unit. Each instruction performs a very specific task, typically either an operation on a unit of data Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions...
type-in listing which claimed to do something extremely useful and of wide interest but which in fact printed APRIL FOOL on the screen. Examples included:
- a program to predict what text the user would type next
- a program to compile BASICBASICBASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
programs directly into machine code leveraging the machine's BASIC interpreter - a program to display colours on a monochromeMonochromeMonochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
screen by rapidly modulating the pixels (citing a recent Tomorrow's WorldTomorrow's WorldTomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.- Content :...
)