The timing was perfect. Computers were experiencing their first explosion, with more and more people recognizing how valuable the devices could be. The Internet existed, but the Web was still years away. The magazine I edited provided vital water to a thirsty readership.

It was weird showing up for work after being self-employed for several years. I could never get the “dressing for the office” part down. That was okay, however, because I rarely dealt with the general public.

The Byte Buyer Offices were in Kearny Mesa in San Diego, off Aero Drive. The magazine was growing, so my offices were upstairs while the rest of the crew worked downstairs. That was fine by me.

I considered myself more of a “Special Guest Star” than a real employee. Being self-employed before, I wouldn’t mind being fired. So I had more of a cocky attitude than the other employees. I could be brutally frank, which occasionally took the publisher by surprise. He did, after a while, appreciate my honesty.

The magazine continued to grow. When I wrote my first article, The Byte Buyer was 32 pages. It was averaging 80 pages after I’d been editor a while. Eventually it pushed 120 pages, which was the maximum the printer allowed before the binding method had to change.

The Byte Buyer grew so much, that McGraw Hill’s BYTE magazine eventually took notice and threatened to sue over the name. Their attorneys felt MGH owned the rights to the word “Byte.”

I argued to keep the name, but the publisher hated it anyway so the search was off for a new name. Eventually they came up with ComputorEdge, using the O in computor to ensure that no one would sue — but plenty of readers were curious about that choice.

The magazine also moved digs, relocating to a new office building. We occupied the entire bottom floor, so the building was graced with a huge ComputorEdge sign that you couldn’t see from the I-15 freeway.

Me at work in the ComputorEdge editorial offices, sometime in July 1988. The computer on the left is my writing computer. The one on the right is a two-modem BBS.

ComputorEdge continued to grow and prosper. It was an exciting time. I had a weekly computer radio show, and was often on TV. We had a great PR machine going, put on symposiums, started up a book publishing branch, and the company was ready to start franchising magazines around the country.

Occasionally I would dress up and play “real editor.” It freaked everyone out as they thought I was going out for a job interview. As if. Too bad I didn’t get the shoes right.

I could tell a boatload of interesting stories about events and hijinks that went on back in those days. Eventually, the lure of returning to work for myself grew strong. I started hitting up my literary agent for more book projects. Eventually I left the magazine, pretty much at the height of its popularity and success.

It would be only two short years later that I wrote DOS For Dummies. Being a magazine editor was the last real full-time job I’ve had. It was certainly an exciting time.