Profiles

Profiles announcement

Pro=Files, a glossy, bi-monthly consumer magazine for users of the Kaypro computer line, sent out its premiere issue in mid-June to an initial circulation of 40,000-50,000. Written both for the novice and the expert Kaypro owner, Pro=Files offers the advertiser a unique opportunity to target a select audience of upscale consumers, all of whom have purchased a personal comuter within the past year.

The magazine includes a full range of departments and features, both on Kaypro-related as well as general computer industry topics. It also emphasizes graphics and a good deal of four-color artwork.

According to David Kay, vice president of marketing for the Kaypro Corporation which publishes Pro=Files, "Our readers are not just wondering about computers -- they've made that leap of faith, they know that computers can make their lives easier and more productive, and they are actively seeking ways to integrate their computers into their lives and work."

"We're no longer dealing with hobbyists and data-processing cognoscenti," he added. "Personal computers are now a mass market item, and their users are no longer content with either technical gibberish or "gee-whiz-look-at-the-phenomenon" general interest fluff. They're desperate for hard information, and they deserve to be treated as the intelligent adults they are."

For advertisers, Pro=Files is not only a tailor-made vehicle for computer aftermarket products, accessories and software, but the demographic profile of the average personal computer buyer makes him of her a natural target for traditional upscale advertising. The bulk of Pro=Files' readership is comprised of small business owners, writers, managers, sales executives, engineers and other professionals.

Pro=Files is published by the Kaypro Corporation, makers of the Kaypro II, Kaypro 4 and 10 computers. The magazine will be distributed free of charge to all Kaypro owners for a full year after the date of purchase. (For those who already own a Kaypro, the subscription year will begin with the premiere issue.) Since the Kaypro Corporation plans to produce nearly 200,000 machines during 1983, Pro=Files' readership is expected to approach that figure by the end of the calendar year.
("Pro=Files, A Magazine for Computer Users, From Kaypro Corp" press release, Comdex 1983)

Special Items Included

I have a copy of the September/October 1983 Profiles that has an unopened plastic jacket. The front cover states "Free disk inside!" The January/February 1984 edition it states that "In the September/October issue of PRO/FILES, BCN inserted a FREE telecommunications software disk." The edge of the insert is visible and does match this image.

The insert also states it is "Advertising Supplement to Pro/Files"

Famous writers from Profiles

Profiles was this weird intersection in time. I don't know why it happened, but a lot of writers who later became famous wrote for us, though David Gerrold was established before he wrote for Profiles [Profiles, July 1984]. Gerrold wrote the teleplay for Trouble with Tribbles, for the original Star Trek TV series, the novel The Man Who Folded Himself, and the War Against the Chtorr series. Robert J. Sawyer and Ted Chiang, both later multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winners, wrote for us. So did Jack Nimersheim, who was nominated for a Hugo. In the mid-90s Ted Chiang wrote The Story of Your Life, which was later made into the movie Arrival, with Amy Adams.
(Interview with Marshall Mosley)

Profiles Q&A Column

I had a column called Q&A, which was completely made up. It was supposedly questions from customers but I just made up the question and then the answer. I tried to come up with things that I thought people should know. It was things that weren't immediately obvious, like a lot of people who bought CP/M machines didn't know CP/M had a command processor. You could create batch files just as you could with MS-DOS. Or I’d explain how to use PIP, because PIP was counterintuitive. It was ‘PIP then target then source’ instead of ‘PIP then source then target’.

I would create questions and answers from issues I had run into, or what support had told me about. I would make things up like ‘Joe Cochrane from Akron, Ohio wants to know blah blah’ and then answer it. It was just a way to impart technical information the subscribers needed.

But the articles were very different because the articles were ferociously factual. Diane Ingalls would not tolerate for one moment being loosey-goosey with the facts. If she thought I was doing that, she'd walk in to my office and hit me in the back of the head.
(Interview with Marshall Mosley)

Early Profiles avoided talking about Kaypro

FR: The earlier profiles appeared to almost avoid talking about Kaypro products.

It was the original [actually the second] editor, and I never worked for him, I think I met him once before he left. His name was Tyler Sperry. When he left Gwyn Price took over and she was a very impressive woman. Hard charging, good humored, just nice. Didn't take any BLANK from anyone, but a very, very positive person. And that's when the magazine changed. More about technical detail, more about what customers needed, more about what they were interested in. She came on I think about four months before I started working at the magazine.
(Interview with Marshall Mosley)