RIP, David Bunnell, Founder of More Major Computer Magazines Than Anyone

Reader harrymcc writes: David Bunnell has passed away. He stumbled into a job at PC pioneer MITS in the 1970s and went on to create the first PC magazine and first PC conference -- and, later on, PC Magazine, PC World, Macworld, and Macworld Expo. He was a remarkable guy on multiple fronts. Harry McCracken, who edited some of those magazines, shared some thoughts about why Bunnell mattered so much in a post at Fast Company.

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[__aaclcg7560]

Glossy toilet paper. For those with better tastes in wiping.

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[Oswald McWeany]

That would probably give you a lacerated anus.

RIP

[unixisc]

RIP, Mr Burnell

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[110010001000]

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

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[110010001000]

Thoughts and prayers is all that is needed.

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[unixisc]

Stay classy, AC

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

magazine memories

[unixisc]

Actually, PC Magazine was a pretty good magazine in the 90s, when there actually was a healthy PC industry in the US - close to 100 PC companies, based not just in the Bay Area but also in the MidWest and other places in the US. I used to enjoy those magazines. PC World was much more simplistic - didn't really like that. Wasn't a follower of the Macs then, although I was somewhat interested when the Mac cloning program was on, and when there were multiple PPC OSs in contention for the Mac - Copeland, BeOS, OS/2... until Jobs returned to Apple merging NEXT along w/ it.

Some of the ZD magazines out there were pretty good - PC Magazine, InfoWorld.... The gem amongst the magazines was BYTE - that was one that I actually subscribed to annually, until one fine day, the company just went out of business.

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[unixisc]

Actually, Byte covered most major computer architectures that were out there: it wasn't a PC centric magazine. They covered trends in microprocessors, OSs, networking, and other related technologies. Reading them was an enriching experience

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[miller701]

I would read stuff in BYTE that I had never heard of and then 6 months - 1 year later see it pop up in other places as the next big thing.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Macworld cast out one of its largest mail order advertisers after widespread complaints about undelivered products. See "What's Wrong With Mail Order?", December 1987 Macworld Magazine, pp. 82-101 [archive.org]. Bunnell was editor-in-chief during this era of Macworld.

His successor, Jerry Borrell, remarks that he caught a lot of flak for doing the same in his final column. He notes it cost the magazine "about $200,000". (Macworld Magazine, November 1992, p.26 [archive.org])

I can't speak for the rest of the publications you mentioned. M