^C^1THE HISTORY OF SOFTDISK, INC.
^C(The Untold Story)

   As you may know, Softdisk, Inc., the publishers of BIG BLUE DISK, got its 
start publishing Softdisk, the original Apple II disk magazine.  From there it 
expanded to publish Loadstar for Commodore computers, and now BIG BLUE DISK 
for the IBM PC.  However, many of you are unaware of the company's long, rich 
history.  We are including this article for your information, and to clear up 
misconceptions about Softdisk's role in history.

   Softdisk was founded in the year One Million B.C., by the caveman Jim Ugh.  
He came up with the idea of producing a monthly (timed by the full moon) 
publication contained entirely on a small, round rock.  It contained data 
intended to be loaded into a computer.  Unfortunately, computers hadn't yet 
been invented, so sales were not brisk.  Critics also pointed out that the 
name "Softdisk" was not very appropriate, given the hardness of the rock 
media.  (They demonstrated this by dropping an issue onto Jim's head; after 
that, his new ideas became even crazier.)  Jim Ugh was unfazed by this 
criticism, however, and continued to publish Softdisk.  To allow it to 
continue beyond his lifetime, he passed on the editorship over the generations 
to deserving people.  By an inflexible rule, heirs to the editorship had to be 
named Jim. 

   So, Softdisk continued throughout the millenia, attracting a small but 
dedicated cult following anxiously awaiting the day when a machine would be 
invented to run the monthly disk.  In the fifteenth century, Softdisk editor 
Jim Gutenberg lamented the fact that all the monthly disks looked alike; he 
wished to have some sort of printed labels to distinguish them.  His brother 
Johannes heard him and invented movable type to satisfy this request. 

   In the 1600's, editor Jim Newton was sitting under a tree with his cousin 
Isaac, when they were both hit by falling apples.  This spurred Sir Isaac to 
discover the laws of gravitation, but for Jim it brought about a decision:  
From then on, Softdisk would be designed to run on Apple computers.  The fact 
that, even after over a million years, computers still hadn't been invented, 
didn't bother him.  (His other cousin, Fig, wasn't present since he was busy 
inventing the cookie which bears his name.  If he had been there, perhaps he 
would have included apples in his recipe.)

   By the nineteenth century, advancing technology made it seem like 
Softdisk's time might finally come.  Editor Jim Babbage convinced his uncle 
Charles to try to design a machine capable of running the monthly disk, but 
his Analytical Engine was never satisfactorily completed.  In the 1920's, Jim 
Watson, Sr. was offered a large block of shares in the newly-formed company, 
IBM, but turned this down since Softdisk was "not IBM compatible." 

   Finally, in the mid-1970's, editor Jim Wozniak got his step-brother Steve 
to do the job of creating a computer to run Softdisk.  His first try, the 
Apple I, didn't succeed at this task, but his second was a big success. 

   Now that there was finally a machine to run Softdisk, the company started a 
giant, no-holds-barred ad campaign to promote this publication.  This fell 
flat on its face, however, due to the fact that the disk drive had yet to be 
introduced, and no cassette version of Softdisk was available. 

   Following this debacle, Softdisk was nearly broke, and was ultimately sold 
in 1981 to Jim Mangham of Shreveport, LA at a bargain-basement price.  The 
masters to all monthly issues from the past million-plus years were delivered 
to his house, but were mistaken for garbage by the sanitation men and carted 
away.  Hence, only issues from 1981 on are now available. 

   From then on, things advanced relatively smoothly and conventionally, 
bringing Softdisk to the esteemed status it now holds.  There were some 
interesting events in recent years, too, but most of them are too confidential 
to reveal here.  For instance, there's the matter of the covert arms shipment 
we sent to Iran hidden in a box of dealer copies of BIG BLUE DISK.  These 
issues were marked with a price in Iranian currency in addition to the U.S. 
and Canadian prices, so that authorities would believe the shipment was on the 
level.  Fortunately, the later investigation of this whole sordid affair 
failed to implicate Softdisk, so our involvement is still secret.  Please 
don't reveal this to anyone. 

   Epilogue:  Well, I guess we eventually did go "IBM Compatible" after all.  
However, Softdisk still continues to serve Apple users, edited by Jim Weiler. 
