Its first issue appeared in October 1985, and was created and produced on a personal computer with desktop publishing software (PageMaker on a Macintosh),[2] preparing output on a prototype PostScript-driven typesetting machine from Mergenthaler Linotype Company.
Erik Sandberg-Diment, a columnist at The New York Times, tried to buy the venture outright when he saw an early edition.
[3] Its premier issue included an interview with John Warnock of Adobe Systems (creator of PostScript) by August Mohr, an article about the first electronic news column for the computer industry (Newsbytes published by Wendy Woods), and a review of PageMaker.
The editors defined desktop publishing as a new application for producing words and pictures using personal computers.
"[citation needed] Contributing editors and columnists included Paul Saffo, Ted Nelson, Ron Jeffries, Ted Nace, August Mohr, David Needle, Steve Rosenthal, and Arthur Naiman.