PALEOTRONIC MAGAZINE
Electronics are everywhere and in almost everything these days, involved with practically every facet of our daily lives, from work to leisure to today's culture.
Paleotronic Magazine celebrates the innovations that got us here by exploring the ways in which they forged our modern world, through their origins, what they did and what they became.
We'll examine how things work now from the perspective of how they worked then, exploiting the simplicity of early devices and programming languages to impart a greater understanding of current technologies in fields such as electronics engineering, software development and design.
We're going to have fun too, revisiting classic video games and vintage toys, digging into underground geek and hacker scenes, and experiencing electronically-connected films, novels, television programs and music.
We'll also cover the present-day retro-technology niche, highlighting its influence on today's popular culture, and show you how you can engage with it by starting your own electronics-based projects, creating retro themed music, literature or art, collecting and restoring computers, consoles or other equipment, or developing your own retro-inspired video games.
Paleotronic Magazine is your ticket to travel both back into the past and journey into the future.
Make sure you come along with us.
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Each month will also include a Feature Presentation, an in-depth look at innovations and events that shaped the world of today, from radio and television, to the rise of computers, to the Moon landing!
You can browse through an example issue of Paleotronic at http://paleotronic.com/preview-issue/
Paleotronic Magazine will initially be published every two months.
MICROM8 "UPCYCLING" EMULATOR
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As a bonus, subscribers get premium access to our companion microM8 application, a combined 8-bit computer emulator and fantasy console that allows you to not only explore a vast library of vintage software from a growing selection of systems, but also upcycle it with contemporary features such as three-dimensional visualisations, backgrounds and overlays, and digital audio. You can also create new programs in an enhanced BASIC development environment sporting additional functionality unavailable on classic 8-bit machines.
What's more, you can collaborate, communicate, play together, learn and share with the built-in microLink online service.
Learn to code the 8-bit way with microM8!
microM8 is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux and currently emulates the Apple IIe, with additional emulations coming in the near future, and plans for iOS and Android versions.
You can test drive a beta version of microM8 now! Get it from http://microM8.com
Currently you can:
- access our huge library of over 1000 BASIC programs and 10,000 Apple II disks!
- edit existing programs or write new ones in enhanced color BASIC and 3D LOGO.
- create novel presentations for classic games with custom color schemes, backdrops, overlays, music and more.
Over the coming months we will:
- implement an expanded command syntax in BASIC with editors for creating sprites, tiles and music that rivals the best "fantasy consoles" allowing you to create 8-bit styled games with modern flair.
- open the microLink on-line service with messaging, e-mail, multiplayer gaming competitions, high-score tables and much much more.
- add support for additional classic 8-bit platforms like the BBC Micro, the Atari 800XL and the Commodore 64!
Once premium access is available, Paleotronic Magazine subscribers will get:
- access to monitored help forums and chat rooms that will provide one-on-one assistance with using microM8 and learning to code.
- access to special members-only social areas and game rooms.
- special avatars and "flairs" and unrestricted time limits.
- exclusive content and early access to new games.
- an @microM8.com e-mail address.
- early access to the micromates interactive tutorial system.
ADDITIONAL BONUS: 12 Years of Retro-Xmas Digital Mini-Mag
All backers will receive a copy of the 12 Years of Retro-Xmas digital mini-mag, filled with reminisces of electronic gifts from the 80s and early 90s! Take a trip down memory lane and relive the fun and excitement of Christmas mornings past. This special mini-issue is expected to be distributed in mid-December.
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WHAT WILL THE MONEY BE USED FOR?
Well, firstly, it won't be used for our personal wages! We are committed to this, and while we may get paid out of future non-Kickstarter income, all Kickstarter pledges will go exclusively to printing and mailing costs, intellectual property licensing, software costs and bounties / awards to contributors. We want Paleotronic Magazine and microM8 to be the best they can be, and the more money we have to work with, the better we will make them for everybody.
Which brings us to...
STRETCH GOALS
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- If we exceed our funding goals we will explore the following additions to our project:
- More, bigger and better articles!
- Monthly issues!
- Paleotronic Podcast / VODcast!
- Programming, Chip Music and Pixel Art Contests!
- Bonus Digital Issues for Kickstarter Backers!
- ...and more!
ABOUT THE TEAM
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Melody Ayres-Griffiths learned to code in BASIC on a Timex Sinclair 1000 (ZX81) when she was 6, and has been hacking away ever since on both hardware and software, working professionally as an Apple and PC technician and a system administrator for most of the 2000s. She also interned in a graphic design house in the early 1990s and has stayed up-to-date with publishing technologies since, through her work providing professional support and training for popular media and design applications to several magazine and newspaper publishers. She has also written two novels, and contributed short stories and articles to a number of periodicals and publications. She is the editor of Paleotronic Magazine. If this campaign is successful, it will be her full-time job.
April Ayres-Griffiths was writing BASIC programs using pen and paper before she even had her first computer (a Commodore 64.) Today she is a senior software developer with a university degree and over a decade of commercial experience in all sorts of computer languages, from Fortran and Perl to C++ and Go, in industries from education to banking. She is the coding genius behind microM8, and believes passionately in the value of including early computing technologies in computer science curriculum for both children and adults. April works tirelessly evenings and weekends to bring microM8 to life.
April and Melody thank you for your support!
Risks and challenges
Since we have both published a preview issue of the magazine and developed a functional beta of our emulation platform, we are obviously passionate about the space and invested in our place in it. However, while it is plainly our intention to follow through and make both Paleotronic Magazine and microM8 the biggest and best they can be, we all know life can get in the way and sometimes even the best plans don't work out.
If this happens, we will pledge to release all remaining unpublished content on the Paleotronic website. refund all subscribers and advertisers a pro-rata amount based on remaining issues, and donate any other funds that are left to a kids coding charity. We're not in this for the money -- everything we raise in this campaign is meant to go towards creating and acquiring content and promotion of said content, and if we're not able to use it for that, we're not interested in holding on to it.
We like to think we're honourable people =) We will do our best to do right by this project.
