Wow, how quickly it went by. That’s right, 30 years ago, when the federation was divided and Czech and other foreign computer magazines suddenly stopped coming to Slovakia, the idea arose to start publishing something of our own. From the initial idea, searching for the right name, authors, partners and discovering how it all actually works, only a few months passed and already in the summer of 1993 the first issue of PC REVUE was published. The thin black-and-white interior was only 24 pages long, but the cover was already in color. At the same time, we learned how exposure to film works, separating colors, finding out that, in addition to the traditional computer RGB color model, there is also a printer’s CMYK. We stubbornly folded the pages of the magazine on the WinPC platform, although all the professionals at that time did graphics exclusively on apps, today no one solves it.
I am very grateful that several great authors who have been working with us for many years immediately responded to our offer of cooperation. Juraj Bednár and topics around Linux and open source, Miro Trnka and his Virus Radar, Jožo Šovčík and everything about networking and databases, Miro Oravec and his programming, etc. Over the years, many excellent authors have passed through the editorial office, and it has almost always been a long-term relationship. I thank everyone for the great articles that shaped the IT community in Slovakia, and I still meet people who, in random meetings, claim that they grew up on our magazine.
The acceptance of the new magazine by advertisers was not immediate, it took a while for them to give us their trust, but then it took off. More pages were added, we changed our colors, we started adding CDs and later CDs with a lot of useful software, the number of subscribers grew, and other independent subsidiary magazines were added. The peak came at the end of 2004, when, in addition to PC REVUE, we also published separate magazines MOBIL REVUE, DIGI REVUE and INFOWARE. I resigned from the position of editor-in-chief, appointed my deputy at the time as the new one, and began to devote myself fully to the IT magazine INFOWARE, which at that time did not have its own editor-in-chief.
However, with the more massive advent of the Internet, people gradually began to search for more information online, and paper magazines became less important over the years. After 10 years, we suspended publication of the smaller subsidiary magazines and I returned to managing PC REVUE. After the restart, we cleaned up a bit the topics and areas that made sense to focus on even today. And after a long consideration, we also changed the name to NEXTECH. With this step, we announced our departure from a narrow specialization in the PC world and a focus on all innovative technologies of the future. We also deal with artificial intelligence, robotics, electric cars, photovoltaics, smart health, digitalization, etc., but also with the societal consequences of the development of technologies for human civilization, which are extremely relevant nowadays.
And do I think that print still makes sense nowadays? Yes, it does, and it’s not just about the nostalgia of physical touch and the smell of paper as you flip through the pages. We spend an inordinate amount of time on electronic displays, we are inundated with a lot of entertaining content and information of questionable quality and benefit. Sooner or later, people will get fed up with such content, they will need to take a break and choose content that is really useful and beneficial for them. And something like this is actually already happening, it can be seen in generation Z, which increasingly prefers the use of ordinary push-button phones or analog cameras over smartphones.
During those 30 years, I met a lot of interesting and wise people who made it really far in life, I got to conferences, events and places that I probably would never have gotten to otherwise, we experienced a golden era, but also periods , when we had to tighten our belts. The amount of products we reviewed went through the editorial office, we published a lot of articles and printed mountains of paper, but I think it made sense. We have done a piece of useful work that I am really proud of without pathos. Thank you to all associates, colleagues, business partners and friends who in some way contributed to this success.
We live in a really turbulent time, development is still accelerating, so it is more and more difficult to keep track of what is happening and prepare for the future. Whether it’s choosing the right school, supplementing your skills and abilities after school, looking for a new job that will withstand the onset of AI and robotization, or starting your own project that will be successful even in the new era of AI.
We are here for you, among other things, to draw attention to new threats that we will soon face, inform about new opportunities and bring solutions and instructions on how to apply in the new environment. We will therefore be happy to be your guide on this journey and in the next period.
Thank you very much for your trust so far and we will be happy if you keep it in us in the future. All the best and have a lovely summer
Source: www.nextech.sk
