Micropendium

*Micropendium*
	October 1984 Micropendium Magazine Cover
Editor	Laura Burns
Categories	Home Computers, TI-99/4A
Frequency	12 issues/year
Publisher	John Koloen
Year founded	February 1984; 40 years ago
Country	USA
Based in	Round Rock, Texas
Language	English

Micropendium, called "Home Computer Compendium" for the first three issues, is a TI-99/4A related magazine first released in February 1984. It was perhaps the longest-running magazine covering the TI-99/4A, running through June 1999. It was printed on newspaper-style paper and for the most part, was printed in black and white or two-color format.

John Koloen was the publisher of the magazine, and Laura Burns was the editor. Micropendium, being published for over 10 years after Texas Instruments canceled the production and distribution of the TI-99/4A or any other computer system, helped keep the TI-99/4A a viable computer system for a long time, much longer than would have been expected, after its discontinuation.

Micropnedium included a variety of different articles including hardware add-on reviews, software reviews, programming including community submitted programs, and how-to's. It also included, like most magazines, user feedback sections. It helped to advertise upcoming TI Fairs that occurred throughout the time in many areas of the United States. Important contributors to the magazine including John Koloen, C. Regina, Charles Good, and many many others.

Welcome Letter

What is the Home Computer Compendium? (First name of Micropendium)

It may be better to begin answering the above question by describing what the Home Computer Compendium is not.

As you can see, HCC is not a slick, high-priced magazine. Nor is it a clever merchandising scheme. We have no intention of selling you, the reader, anything other than this magazine. We have no plans to market software, books, T-shirts or anything else that cannot fit between the covers of the Compendium. To paraphrase a popular television commercial, we will strive to do only one thing well.

So what is the Home Computer Compendium?

It is a conduit, a source of information and a vehicle for the dissemination of information.

It is also unique among computer publications inasmuch as it operates under newspaper-type deadlines. All of our schedules revolve around the goal of providing up-to-date articles and news. We have the capability of going to press within a day of completing a late-breaking story, unlike other publications which must work months in advance of publication dates.

We also offer a classified advertising section, which we hope you will find useful.

Each edition will also include a minimum of six staff-produced reviews of software, hardware and other items designed for use with the TI home computer. They will be unbiased, consumer-oriented reviews with an opportunity for rebuttal on the part of vendors.

We urge you to review this edition carefully. It is the prototype of what will follow. We hope it is the smallest we ever publish, but regardless of its size we feel that the Compendium is an idea whose time has come.

We hope you agree.

Sincerly,