Australia’s top two tech mags are joining forces

APC editor Dan Gardiner explains the changes coming to the mag, and says farewell in his final editorial.

Realising that this issue of APC will be the last I ever edit is, frankly, a fairly bittersweet moment.

APC is the mag that gave me my first full-time job out of university — I was originally employed as a features writer, but quickly worked my way into the heady word of product testing and benchmarking, and I still derive pleasure from it to this day. Although there were a few other stops on the way, finding my way back to APC and then eventually becoming its steward (a role which I’ve enjoyed for the last six-and-a-bit years) has been a huge privilege. Putting together a magazine every month is a challenge, but it’s also immensely rewarding — and, in the case of APC, it also lets you spend a lot of time with supremely cool tech.

Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy such a fabulous job without APC’s fantastic readers, some of whom have stuck with us since APC was first published in May 1980 and accompanied us on our journey through every stage of the personal computing revolution. This column isn’t intended to be a retrospective, and we hope to keep bringing you APC for many years to come — and I’ve no doubt that my replacement is up to the task.

From next month, Ben Mansill will be taking the reigns as editor of APC. Ben’s an immensely talented editor and longtime friend who’s joining us from PC & Tech Authority magazine — Australia’s other big PC-oriented publication. To co-incide with that (and in case you missed the big logo on the cover!) we’re also proud to announce that PC&TA is now becoming a part of APC. The full details of this merger are still being finalised, but you’ll find the first stage of that in this issue’s new dedicated PC Builder section, which is where we’ll be housing our monthly PC Building Masterclass alongside two PC&TA regulars (System News and Market Watch, which respectively look at an important topic if you’re building a PC and round-up four pre-built PCs from Aussie vendors) and three ‘blueprints’ for building a computer for different needs and price points. We’ll also be bringing some of PC&TA’s best writers on board APC, where their expertise will help us continue to publish the best tech mag in Australia.

I’d also like to welcome PC&TA readers who are making the transition to APC — and I have a favour to ask: if you were fond of particular sections and features in PC&TA, write to us and let us know which ones you’d like to see make the transition over to APC.

My thanks again to all our readers — it’s been an absolute pleasure.