When the computer magazine Byte was started in 1975, there was no such thing as the personal computer, and virtually no competition in the computer publishing market. For 23 years, as the computer revolution changed society, the magazine held on, despite the emergence of a number of rival publications.
But those changes finally caught up with Byte last week. The monthly magazine and three other computer publications were sold by McGraw-Hill Inc. to CMP Media Inc. last month, and its editors and writers expected its new owner to revitalize Byte. Instead, CMP suspended publication of the magazine, and 74 of Byte's 85 employees were laid off.
Byte's circulation has fallen to a recent average of 442,553 from 522,795 in 1996. Advertising has also fallen. In January, for example, Byte published only 61.5 ad pages, less than half the number of pages the magazine had in 1996.
Mr. Uphoff said CMP would ''resuscitate'' Byte under a new business model and revamped editorial focus, most likely in the fall. The magazine's site on the World Wide Web will remain intact, however, for archival purposes. But the July issue will be the last for Byte in its current incarnation.
Byte was a personal computing magazine aimed at technical professionals and others who wanted very serious, in-depth reporting on technology. It was known for its influence on the computer industry and for its crisp writing style. Unlike some later computing magazines, which were perceived to be influenced by advertisers, Byte was considered editorially independent.
For those who were involved in computer publishing long before computers were as ubiquitous as they are today, Byte's suspension was treated as the end of an era.
That editorial independence was particularly important, others said, in the sticky world of computer publishing, where magazines cover the same companies that they depend on for advertising.
In discussing the announcement, CMP officials preferred to concentrate on the ''new audiences'' the acquisition of McGraw-Hill's technology group gives them. For $28.6 million, the company acquired, along with Byte, three other technology publications -- Data Communications, LAN Times and tele.com -- as well as a product testing lab, giving CMP a subscriber base of 1.26 million.
John Dvorak, a columnist with PC Magazine, which competes with another CMP publication, Windows magazine, said he was ''baffled'' by CMP's decision to suspend Byte.