It did not die a death of old age or lack of relevance.  It died a death of costs, marketing, and cluelessness.  A brand of strength, technology, and know-how was consigned to death in favor of one that favors management over technology, buzz over substance, and above all advertising dollars on a fat margin.

When I began my career as a writer, this publication showed me a whole new world of technology.  I got to see the COOL.  The latest.  And I got to play with it and talk with the frighteningly intelligent men that made and the marketing people that sold it.  I saw a world outside of the IT department, one that was dynamic and exciting.

I was put in a position to help my brothers and sisters of IT in their daily jobs by putting my experience and skills to use.  I got to test what they would eventually implement and help them plan.  I could entertain, inform, and educate.  It was one of the wildest rides I have ever had.  It made me a professional writer and an industry analyst.  It made me important to a small subset of vendors who knew my name, even though they had never met me. 

It was a blast.  The best fun.  They worked us like dogs, but the pay was good and we were helping.  We always thought about our reader.  We always did our best not only for ourselves, but because we knew our readers could benefit.  We could help.  We could make peoples jobs better and in a small way make their lives easier.  And we wanted to help.  I even left the publication and came back, mostly out of love for it.

Today that ended.  The brand has died and I have been laid off.  They say they are merging brands, but I know different.  I know that what was will no longer be.

Good bye, Network Computing.  There will ever be another like you.