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Gosh, that's not how I remember it. When I started reading BYTE in the 80s, I had no trouble buying it at regular bookstores even in my small southern college town.

I eventually subscribed anyway, but it was absolutely a staple of bookstore shelves up until it became a pale shadow if its former self (much like PC Mag and others).

> Also as trivia, BYTE was the last magazine I ever paid a subscription to (circle 1998?) because I felt cheated after paying up for a full year and after 1 issue, they shut down the operation. I got a form letter saying they would substitute with something else (Dr Dobbs? can't exactly remember)

Same happened to me! Renewed for 2 years after being a subscriber for many years, and then they just stopped publishing a few issues later. And they offered 'Windows Magazine' as a substitute - ugh, no thanks...

> BYTE was never for the masses.

Not at this stage. In 1979 is was a hobby zine for computer builders. By the mid-90's it was trying to compete against IT rags that were definitely for "mass" consumption. But early Byte was absolutely targeted at electronics experts, with a strong assumption of solid software skills.

>By the mid-90's it was trying to compete against IT rags that were definitely for "mass" consumption.

Yes, I agree that BYTE eventually expanded (or diluted if one chose that viewpoint) their coverage into areas that overlapped with PC Magazine etc. But they still had more of a niche audience. Here's an example issue from 1994.[1] If one flips through the pages, it has stories about CISC/RISC and Object-Oriented COBOL. It also has ads for a disk hex editor and Watcom C++ compiler. The typical computer enthusiast that's playing around with WordPerfect/Lotus and games like Microsoft Flight Simulator didn't care about geekier topics like that.

My first IT director was a programmer and even he didn't subscribe to BYTE. He did subscribe to PC Magazine and ComputerWorld.

[1] https://archive.org/details/ByteV19N9

My local public library branch and high school library (LA County; San Gabriel Valley) carried BYTE and you could easily find it in computer and book stores in the 1980s. By the 1990s it was on its way out, but it was as mainstream as any other computer pub of its time.

>, but it was as mainstream as any other computer pub of its time.

We remember differently. Yes, the libraries had BYTE but again, I'm talking about relative popularity. As another datapoint, the 1980s grocery stores' magazine section which of course would be much smaller than Barnes & Noble would have PC Magazine and Computer Shopper but they never carried BYTE. BYTE was always more niche than PC Magazine which lowered the number of retail outlets where it could be purchased.

PC Magazine covered applications (Lotus 123, MS DOS, etc) and games which was relevant to a larger population. BYTE was never a magazine for the "masses".

I guess I don't recall seeing any computer publication in a grocery store until the '90s

I have what might be a stupid question, in your second paragraph you typed "circle 1998", what does circle mean in this context? Did you mean circa? Is circle an english version of that term?

English isn't my main language and haven't seen this term before. Thanks!

Yes, he or she definitely meant "circa". Possibly autocorrect or just a mistake.

My elementary school library in rural Alberta Canada carried BYTE back in the early 80s. At one point they dumped all their old copies on me. I remember combing through the amazing ads for S-100 bus systems back in 83, 84, just salivating. I learned a lot.