''Verbum'' was an early

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

and

computer art Computer art is any art in which computers play a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditi ...

magazine focusing on

interactive art Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...

and

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

. It was edited and published from 1986 until 1991 by Michael Gosney. It, along with '' Info 64'', was one of the first periodicals to be entirely based on

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online c ...

techniques. Referring to itself as a "journal of personal computer aesthetics," ''Verbum'' was notable for placing more emphasis on creative aspects of its subject matter in contrast to the overwhelmingly technical content of other publications.

Overview

It was laid out in

PageMaker Adobe PageMaker (formerly Aldus) is a discontinued desktop publishing computer program introduced in 1985 by the Aldus Corporation on the Apple Macintosh. The combination of the Macintosh's graphical user interface, PageMaker publishing software, ...

1.2 on

Macintosh Plus The Macintosh Plus computer is the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2,599. As an evolutiona ...

computers and generated

camera-ready Camera-ready is a common term used in the commercial printing industry meaning that a document is, from a technical standpoint, ready to "go to press", or be printed. History The term camera-ready was first used in the photo offset printing ...

300 dpi printout from an Apple LaserWriter Plus. It grew from early black and white content to include color and make use of the growing fields of

image manipulation Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as a ...

and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

. In 1989, Verbum held the first Digital Be-In, which sought to meld the ideals of the 1960s

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

with the emerging

cyberculture Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

of the early 1990s.

Issues

This list of issues and their content is based on information printed in Verbum issues 5.1 and 5.2.

Verbum Interactive

In 1991 the magazine began publishing ''Verbum Interactive'', which was billed as the "first

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

periodical." ''Verbum Interactive'' was programmed using

MacroMind Director Adobe Director (formerly Macromedia Director, MacroMind Director, and MacroMind VideoWorks) was a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia and managed by Adobe Systems until its discontinuation. Director was the primary edi ...

by Michel Kripalani and contained innovative multimedia technologies including digital articles with video, hyperlinks, digital audio files and CD-Audio. It was hailed as a groundbreaking product, but criticized for the high cost of the equipment needed to view it, and for the slow performance of the CD-ROM technology it relied upon. Others commented that "the scope of VI, in terms of both its thematic and intellectual expanse and the level of technological expertise with which the final product was produced, is truly remarkable".

References

{{Reflist Defunct computer magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1987 Magazines disestablished in 1991 Quarterly magazines published in the United States