To Our Readers, Nov. 13, 1995

WE LEARNED LONG AGO THAT TIME readers are hungry for stories about technologies that affect their life, especially computers and the Internet. Back in 1983 we designated the computer our Machine of the Year, and since then we’ve produced innumerable stories on the subject–including 11 covers and last spring’s special issue devoted to cyberspace. But since there seem to be more computer-related developments from week to week than there are pages in TIME, we’ve been searching for ways to report more thoroughly on this rapidly evolving field.

You’ll find the result inside this issue: the first edition of Time Digital. It’s a magazine within the magazine, complete with its own cover story, news items and features. We think you’ll find it extraordinarily useful and informative–not to mention a lot of fun.

Shaping Time Digital was the job of editor/creative development Lee Eisenberg, who supervises Time’s offshoots and forays into new media, including Time online, Time for Kids and several projects still in the works. Eisenberg, working with special-projects editor Barrett Seaman, decided to build on what Time has always done best: providing a big picture for interested nonexperts. “We aren’t aiming TIME DIGITAL at techies or the digerati,” says Eisenberg. “We’re addressing those who use computers and other new technology at work and who are now bringing it into their homes. These are people who have become somewhat comfortable with technology but may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by the pace of change.”

In keeping with the graphic innovation of the new technologies, Eisenberg and Seaman put a premium on making Time Digital visually engaging. Thanks to design director Janet Waegel and picture editor Jay Colton, the magazine has a lively mix of graphic styles, irreverent headlines and pictures and charts that depart refreshingly from their customary positions on the page. Eisenberg and Seaman also insisted that stories not succumb to technohype. Says Seaman: “We were determined not to be breathless cheerleaders for all things digital.” Thus, among other heretical stories, you’ll read about how technological change is not necessarily good news for some workers. And you’ll see the surprising results of a comparison between shopping in cyberspace and doing it the old-fashioned way. Overall, we think you’ll agree that Time Digital is taking a firm step into the 21st century, and we hope you enjoy the view.