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Computer Shopper was launched with a belter of a manifesto on the first page of the first issue. It's why I joined up 20 years ago. It ran thus: "It is clear to us that computer magazines have become too bland and too concerned with keeping in with manufacturers. Computer Shopper is different. You'll read the truth about machines, not manufacturers' hype. We take one side: yours."

What a brilliant declaration. It got better as the manifesto went on: "We cover the subjects that unite computer users, whether you're a business or home user, a hacker or a computer professional." Ah, those were the days, when hacking was regarded as a positive community pastime and not an act of terrorism.

The man responsible for getting it all together was the launch editor, Graeme Kidd, who recalls, "The mission was best for price, best for advice. The plan was to get people who loved computing and who were not journalists right there in among a wide team of freelancers. There was a charming aroma of smouldering anorak, but lots of good, solid technical material from people who knew their stuff. That was the gameplan from day one."

Graeme has gone on to a glittering career in politics and prize-winning sausages, but it was not always so. "For months I was the team," he says. "To get Computer

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Shopper off the ground, I trawled through my special contact book and unearthed an eclectic team, aided and abetted by Dennis staff, then off we went on a mission to deliver a computer magazine like nothing ever seen before."

And deliver we did, with support from staff such as our first news editor, Christina Erskine. She was the woman responsible for turning our contributions into a coherent production. Asked to describe what we achieved then, Christina says, "I think Dennis Publishing had the knack of accommodating maverick characters and getting great work out of them. We were all very clear that we were creating something recognisably different from the other magazines of the day, which were all business tomes or games mags, and I believe we succeeded."

So please raise your glasses and join me in thanking everyone involved. A very happy birthday to Shopper. It's been a privilege contributing to every issue of this wonderful magazine. Here's to the next 20 years!

Up close and personal with Mel Croucher

Mel Croucher started out as an architect. Luckily for us, during the 1970s he was side-tracked into the newly developing world of personal computing. He produced games and utilities, and pioneered multimedia guides. Mel's words appeared in Shopper's inaugural magazine, and have been entertaining readers ever since. Every issue, he enthuses or moans about something computer related in his Rants & Raves column. He also produces the Great Moments cartoon strip on the back page with artist Robin Grenville-Evans, whose artwork has appeared in every issue of Shopper. Robin created the main illustration gracing this very page.