Sometimes, it's good not to leave the past in the past

It seems that the Internet really does archive everything, including something that I'd almost forgotten about

Back around 2005 or so, I wasn't necessarily in a good place; I had lost my first office job at Retro Gamer, and whilst steadily writing for Micro Mart I was formulating an idea for my own publication which would be both digital and in print. I thought then that unless you were printing gossip magazines, or childrens comics with free toys, physical media covering anything computering or gaming would soon be dead. Little did I know that nearly 20 years later, not only would Retro Gamer (RG) still be going, but also there would be the excellent Pixel Addict and Amiga Addict mags. So the print isn't yet dead, as I had thought.

Anyway, earlier this year I was actually interviewed for the very magazine for which I was once a staff writer (albeit not a very good one, sorry Mart), it kind of got me thinking about a time in my life that I don't usually think about. And recently I found that Retro:Bytes Lite, issue 1, was archived, but to my horror, it was the edition over which I was threatened to be sued. So I can't share the link otherwise I might get a strongly worded email from Andrew Merman. Not that I couldn't handle his guff, I just don't want to read anything from him again. Ever. Anyway, if you know how to make Internet searches, you'll know where to find it.

A quick back story: after losing my job as a staffer at RG (when it was in the Live Publishing stable), I was struggling for work. Knowing that I didn't want to go back into working for Social Services again, as the pay was even worse than my £12k salary at Live (yep, not all public sector employees are well paid you know), I had to do something.

Since the 1990s, and especially since 2002, I had built up a lot of knowledge about 8-bit computers and other related technologies. Along the way, I had some considerable contacts in the various communities. I had then three years of writing experience professionally, some in-house editorial experience, and a dream: to make my own publication as I adumbrated earlier. Retro:Bytes was my big idea, to be a community-focussed magazine for the seriously obsessed, like me, and for the more casual user, like almost everyone else. Near to the end of 2005, Reto:Bytes Lite was put out as a tester, but only digitally. And I was trying then to secure something bigger and better. Unfortunately, some external forces and my own lack of experience forbade it. Although looking at it now, it certainly had potential.

So, back then I was young and let's say not so perspicacious. And after nearly 20 years, I am no longer young. What I do have though is a pretty well paid job, over a decade experience as a software developer, so I am what one might call "upwardly mobile".

One thing that there is now, that wasn't then, is something called a KickStarter, and does Indiegogo still exist as a funding stream? You know what I'm talking about. But I wouldn't necessarily need to raise capital now from any community, I'd just need a bit of time with a word processor, find a good designer, and get some quotes to make something printed, and some webspace. Being a PHP developer with front-end experience, I don't need a GoDaddy or something either. It's almost like now is the right time to do something with the old Retro:Bytes concept. Isn't it?