Subtitled "The Small Systems Journal", for most of its life, Byte wasn't strictly a "home" or personal computer magazine. It covered computers that would have been used by businesses, hobbyists, etc. though it did also, of course, cover home computers. In the early to mid 1980s, issues tended to be huge with this one coming in at about 564 pages. The April 1984 issue includes:
Columns
Build a Scrolling Alphanumeric LED Display - A project for building a scrolling LED display. One character requires two boards including one with 35 LEDs and resistors, and the other includes shift registers and buffer/drivers. Multiple can be used to create larger displays.
User's Column: The Most Fabulous Object in the Entire World - Items covered here include CP/M Utilities, Diser Computer, Omnisphere, Sprinter, Turbo Pascal, Zenith Z-100 Computer, ZP/SIM, and more.
Themes
Personal Computer Signal Processing - An introduction to transducers, interfacing, and system development by Bill Englemann and Mark Abraham of Analog Devices. Topics covered include data acquisition and control-system architecture, parallel communications, memory mapped interfaces, and much more.
Planning a Computerized Measurement System - An introduction to digital processing of analog signals.
Designing Systems for Real-Time Applications - Some guidelines for creating a system for real-time applications. Some suggestions here include using a 32-bit processor such as the 68000, having high-speed memory access, operating system suggestions, and more.
The Rainbow 100 - This computer from DEC can run CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and MS-DOS but uses its own specially formatted disks. It includes both a Z80A CPU and an 8088 CPU and 64K RAM.
Peachtext 5000 - A collection of five business applications including a word processor, thesaurus, spelling, spreadsheet, and list manager.
The Coleco Adam - Coleco's short-lived, ColecoVision compatible computer. Expanding a video game console into a computer always seemed like a good idea but this was poorly executed.
Features
The Mindset Personal Computer - A preview of this unique computer available in multiple configurations. The base system unit is cartridge based and includes an 80186 CPU and 32K RAM. The expansion module adds 96K more RAM as well as a 360K disk drive. The highest end configuration includes an additional 360K drive and additional 128K RAM. This machine in the higher two configurations offer some PC compatibility. However, it's most unique feature was its custom graphics hardware which was conceptually similar to what the Amiga offered. Unfortunately, this system didn't sell well and was only on the market for about a year.
Is BASIC Getting Better? - A look at how BASIC is maturing as a language.
True BASIC - An implementation of ANSI BASIC from the inventors of the BASIC language.
BetterBASIC - This implementation provides a BASIC compiler as well as user defined procedures and functions.
Macintosh BASIC - A version of BASIC for the Macintosh that offers partial compiling and additional tools to simplify writing code.
Professional BASIC - This implementation provides support for the 8087 coprocessor and various debugging tools.
Editorial: A Call for Ethical Standards for Personal Computer Magazines - Some standards Byte promises to live up to including no editorial discounts for staff members, no expense-paid trips, no large speaker's fees, etc.
MICROBYTES - IBM announces portable computer, Japanese companies discuss experimental 1-megabit RAM devices; Rose Bowl scoreboard hacked with an Epson HX-20, 8086 breadboard, and two radio modems; and more.
Letters - Letters from readers about simplifying user interfaces, software allegory, the Texas Instruments Professional Computer, the HP-150 Personal Computer, the 8087, and more.
Programming Quickie - Customizing BASIC's INPUT statement on the IBM PC.
BYTE's User to User - Problems getting computer replacement parts, questions about a Sci-Pro 100A monitor, copy protection schemes, and more.
