Keepers of the flame

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Dear PSE vets,

As you know I am new to PSE and this NG. I wonder if some of you who have been around since the beginning could spin the creation myths. Is there anyone in this community who actually work for Adobe? How did the Techniques magazine get started? When was day 1 for the Forum? How many people contribute to the NG and how many just "lurk?"

I am a bit of an amateur computer historian. From my study of the early days of computing, read before ENIAC circa 1945, I am truly amazed how few people using computers really know the stories of their birth.

Cheers,

Bob

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

I am a bit of an amateur computer historian. From my study of the early days of computing, read before ENIAC circa 1945, I am truly amazed how few people using computers really know the stories of their birth.


Sorry about the [] garbage. Somehow my spell checker in Word copied the meta tags back into my post. - Bob

[robpendragon]

Hmmm, I don't know too much of the history of PET or Elements, but I know Tom & John Knoll were the founding fathers of Photoshop, John worked for George Lucas (of Star Wars fame) at Industrial light & magic. He figured out how to alter parts of an image on the computer.

[Chuck S.]

Robert, re Eniac: my aunt (father's sister) was one of the development team for that project. She and several other women were given the opportunity only because the men were off fighting WW II. Pretty important milestone in the feminist movement.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Well the history of Photoshop :)

Started off in 1987 with Thomas Knoll and his Mac :eek:
1989 ... Adobe get involved and it becoes Photoshop (Mac Only)
1993 ... Windows get Photoshop :D:D

OK I had this bookmarked from long ago ... and there are some amazing facts in it ...

http://www.storyphoto.com/multimedia/multimedia_photoshop.html
Wendy

[GaryK]

Wendy

I think Bob was referring to the site as opposed to PS.

I was about half a year or so (newsletter wise) late to the game, so I'm not sure of the origins.
I'm not even sure there were 500 members when I signed up.:confused:

Maybe Dave, Tami or Matt could shed some light as the thought process at KW for the start of this. :)

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Wendy & NG,

The story of Photoshop was great. I had no idea that the original program was that old. I was using Paint Shop in the 90s. If anyone is interested, I am of the camp that believes that John Mauchly's ENIAC was a "ripoff" of John V. Atanasoff's machine often called the ABC. There is a super book called: Atanasoff, Forgotten Father of the Computer by Clark R. Mollenhoff.

Back to Photoshop - Wendy, when did you first post to this NG? Do either you or Chuck have a "day job?" I do not know how you have the time to do this.

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Wendy & NG,

The story of Photoshop was great. I had no idea that the original program was that old. I was using Paint Shop in the 90s. If anyone is interested, I am of the camp that believes that John Mauchly's ENIAC was a "ripoff" of John V. Atanasoff's machine, often called the ABC. There is a super book called: Atanasoff, Forgotten Father of the Computer by Clark R. Mollenhoff.

Back to Photoshop - Wendy, when did you first post to this NG? Do either you or Chuck have a "day job?" I do not know how you have the time to do this.

Cheers,

Bob

[Wendy]

PET site stats ...

The site is run by KW Media Group ... and it started in October/ November 2004 and initially there was just the forum with no tutorials just a few of us talking to each other :) When someone new visited we started to welcome them ... and we used to rush to see who could do it first :)

First few weeks the only questions were to ask "How do I install Elements" so after spending weeks on those sort of questions we branched out into doing things with Elements. I started some small tutorials called Things Elements will do .. and the very first one (4th Jan 2005) is still here :eek:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311

There was premier issue of the Newsletter late in 2004 but the first real newsletter didn't go out until early 2005.

The subscriber area was launched on the 31st December 2004 and we had a party while we were waiting for it to open ... the tradition of having a party while we are waiting for things started then.

The first online class (Digital Photography Workflow) was June 2005 ..

I am not aware of anyone on the forum who works for Adobe

Details of forum members are at the bottom of the forum and active members is there too

I think thats about it :)

Wendy

[GaryK]

Wendy

Thanks.:)

[TonyW]

If you believe the post numbering system this was the first post:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1

And Wendy's first appears to be #49:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showpost.php?p=49

Tony

[Wendy]

Oh Tony ...

How did you find that :D:D

Wendy

[Wendy]

Gary ...

I know ... but I wanted to tell about Photoshop being Mac only for all those years.

... and the other post took me ages to do :) :)

Wendy

[lindajay]

Good job, Wendy! I joined in Dec. 2004, and I know that Jodi and Wendy were here ahead of me (and others, but I'm not remembering who), but I joined in time to get the premier issue of the newsletter. Another event that is memorable in the minds of the "family" is the Big Server Crash of April(?) 2005. A couple months of postings were lost, so there remains a "hole" in the timeline at that point.

In the early months, there were occasional contests sponsored by the site, judged by the editor (Dave Cross, at the time of the first contest in April 2005) and with prizes given. Jodi won the first contest, and was awarded an iPod!

[Orphanannie]

Thanxs for the History lesson.:) Always wondered how the forum and tutorials was started and when, and who were the first contributors....

[Wendy]

Linda ...

I remember that .. I came second, hey you and Will are in there too :)

Here is the link to it:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/contests/contest2.php

Wendy

[GaryK]

Linda

I had just joined after the contest but before the crash. I think one of the first posts I read was about Jodi winning th iPod.:)

[lindajay]

And here's the link to the 4th challenge -- http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/contests/contest4.php -- and if you look, you'll see where my avatar came from :D

[Chuck S.]

I was a little slow getting over here from the Adobe-sponsored Elements forum; finally found my way on January 6, 2005. I continued to flip back and forth between this forum and Adobe's until about a year ago, when I had to make a choice between them due to more limits on my free time.

It took me even longer to become a subscriber because I thought the price was too high for what I perceived the potential value to be. Once I found out about all the wonderful stuff in the subscriber area, I got over that concern!

This forum and website just keep getting better and better!

:)

[Wendy]

Hi ...

I too flipped back and forth between here and the Adobe forum but I gave up the other one before Chuck did :)

... and somewhere back there Bob asked if Chuck and I have days jobs :D:D I know that Chuck has but I haven't got time for one :)

Wendy

[TonyW]

Oh Tony ...

How did you find that :D:D

Wendy

Searching for early posts and early members works quite well. Here are all the forum members that joined in the first 4 months (Oct 2004-Jan 2005) that have more than 100 posts. Lots of familiar names :)

billz (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=511)
bnk1953 (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=649)
Carbone (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=201)
cathy (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=806)
Chuck S. (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=627)
clemsonjim (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=636)
editor (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=240)
Edmund (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=612)
Foxhound (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=215)
Grant (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=371)
Jodi Frye (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=217)
Kathy (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=635)
kerriann85 (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=233)
lindajay (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=516)
Mary (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=384)
Matt K (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=510)
mhughes (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=301)
michoumisalade (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=423)
MikeH (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=564)
Netnut (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=854)
Patricia Heere (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=544)
slophotos (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=694)
Wendi Karen (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=731)
Wendy (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=230)
willpresley (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/member.php?u=307)

I was a latecomer - didn't find the forum until March 2005.

Tony

[Wendy]

Tony ...

Its quite surprising how many of us are still here :)

Wendy

[cats4jan]

I've really enjoyed the background of this forum and especially the link to how Photoshop started.

That first challenge - what awesome work. Blew me away.

[lindajay]

I really do miss the site-sponsored challenges. :( Wish we could have another one (hint hint ;)).

[Dorrie H.]

My join date is listed here as "July 2005", however my records show that I purchased a membership on "February15, 2005", and I'm still here. :D:D

[PJSmith]

But, Wendy and Chuck...

You didn't answer that "Day Job" question! :D (Oh, I see Wendy's answer in a later post-- Sorry!)

I, also, wonder how so many people seem to spend so much time on the forum, especially those answering questions. Very time-consuming, I would think. But, appreciated!!!

Patti

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Everyone,

This is just the stuff I wanted to read. I feel the same way about this NG as I did in with my first Internet Service Provider, TIAC of Bedford, MA. A close group of friends built around a common interest. That was February 1, 1994. I had just given up on a Bulletin Board System (BBS), Argus. This was the REAL Internet.

My history with the Internet goes back to the mid 1980s when I purchased an Altos 586 for my business. It had FTP on XENIX, an early flavor of UNIX. You could send and receive files to and from other computers if they were on line, hooked up to a telephone, and had the necessary permissions. I had an early form of e.mail:). Write your message, FTP it to you firend and save it in a file on his system, and then CALL him to say: "You have mail!"

My experience with remote computing goes back even further to 1965 and the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS). I arrived as a graduate student at Dartmouth College the first fully operational year of DTSS. This is where the BASIC language was born. Anyone interested might want to follow this link:
http://www.dtss.org/index.php

I look forward to reading more of this wonderful thread this weekend and on out into next week... or where ever this leads to.

Thanks a million,

Bob

[PJSmith]

Prior to going to the Chicago Summit in July, 2006, I had contacted PET to see when my 2-year subscription was going to expire. I was told the expiration was May 30, 2007. I renewed for another two years at the Summit (to get the free DVD's!), so you are all stuck with me until at LEAST May, 2009! :D

I have only recently, however, gotten interested in the forums, homework and challenges. What a wealth of information and help there is here!

Patti

P.S. Bob, what does NG stand for?

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Dear PJ & NG,

When ever I use these shorthand thingies, I usually spell it out the first time. For example, laughing out loud (LOL) is an old one.

Bob

[Chuck S.]

Robert, re my 'day job': I retired in 2001, stayed home for 2 years, went back to work for a part-time 4-month project that lasted 3 years (!), joined another firm in a part-time capacity, and now work 40-50 hours per week (part-time). I do enjoy the camaraderie of this forum, so when I'm on a break or home, I tend to gravitate here and make life miserable for everyone....

:D

[Cmcburnett]

Wow Wendy, thanks for the info, interesting;)

[efarnstrom]

My join date is listed here as "July 2005", however my records show that I purchased a membership on "February15, 2005", and I'm still here. :D:D

We Californians must think alike about Elements and the forum.
As some have noticed the slowness of the magazine, I signed up after receiving the complimentary Vol. 1. No. 1 but didn't get any magazines until Vol. 2 No.5! Don't know what I missed.....

[msbrad]

That is a lot neat history. Glad the question was asked.

I joined July 2005 (after attending a seminar in May). My first
post wasn't until Feb 2006...that's because I'm very shy, and was so clueless.
Took me awhile to get comfortable and then.....I started talking alot.
I've already renewed for 2 more years, did so this past May, so
I am good til...Sept. 09 now!:D
m

[Bayla]

This has been really interesting. I joined a few days after Tony in March 05...I made my way here via the Adobe kids site! I remember being amazed at the collage contest and thinking that I would never be able to be able to do something like that...I felt the same way about the scrapbooking contest as well....now I wish they'd do some more contests so I could take part!!!

Tony ...

Its quite surprising how many of us are still here :)



Actually I found this thread cos I was looking for something by Mikeh....he hasn't been on for simply ages and I wondered if anyone had been in touch with him & if he's OK?

Bayla

[Wendy]

Hi Bayla ...

He doesn't live far from me ... but I haven't heard from him since February.

Every now and then I spot him online but he doesn't post anymore ...

Wendy

[kerriann85]

Hi guys! Just stumbled onto this thread. My name's on that list! Yep, I was once here a lot. Then I got a real job. So I pop in now and then just to say Hi. It was fun reading all the above! :cool:

[Wendy]

Hi Kerri ...

Oh I well remember you getting the job ... and I am sure that you were the first on the forum to turn your hobby into a job :)

Wendy

[GaryK]

Hi Kerri

Glad to see you are still checking up on us.

Those were scarey times for you.:D:D

I remember how happy and excited we all were when you landed the job.:)

[tnwaltz]

The history has been interesting to read and it made me look to see how long I have been a member. I joined in May, 2006 and have enjoyed the group so much.

[mayva]

This is a really neat thread here is my very first post and I remember being so excited that someone actually answered me (Wendy...:))
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=824

Boy have I come a long way.............:eek:

[Wendy]

Hi Anna ...

Oh you really have :) ... see it didn't take that long for you to become an expert :)

Wendy