Section I -- 2600

I-01. What is alt.2600?

alt.2600 is a Usenet newsgroup for discussion of material relating to 2600 Magazine, the hacker quarterly. It is NOT for the Atari 2600 game machine. Len@netsys.com created the group on Emmanuel Goldstein's recommendation. Emmanuel is the editor/publisher of 2600 Magazine. Following the barrage of postings about the Atari machine to alt.2600, an alt.atari.2600 was created to divert all of the atari traffic from alt.2600. Atari 2600 people are advised to hie over to rec.games.video.classic.

I-02. What does "2600" mean?

2600Hz was a tone that was used by early phone phreaks (or phreakers) in the 80's, and some currently. If the tone was sent down the line at the proper time, one could get away with all sorts of fun stuff.

A note from Emmanuel Goldstein:

"The Atari 2600 has NOTHING to do with blue boxes or telephones or the 2600 hertz tone. The 2600 hertz tone was simply the first step towards exploring the network. If you were successful at getting a toll call to drop, then billing would stop at that point but there would be billing for the number already dialed up until the point of seizure. 800 numbers and long distance information were both free in the past and records of who called what were either non-existent or very obscure with regards to these numbers. This, naturally, made them more popular than numbers that showed up on a bill, even if it was only for a minute. Today, many 800 numbers go overseas, which provides a quick and free way into another country's phone system
which may be more open for exploration."

I-03. Are there on-line versions of 2600 available?

No.

I-04. I can't find 2600 at any bookstores. What can I do?

Subscribe. Or, let 2600 know via the subscription address that you think 2600 should be in the bookstore. Be sure to include the bookstores name and address.

I-05. Why does 2600 cost more to subscribe to than to buy at a newsstand?

A note from Emmanuel Goldstein:

We've been selling 2600 at the same newsstand price ($4) since 1988 and we hope to keep it at that price for as long as we can get away with it. At the same time, $21 is about the right price to cover subscriber costs, including postage and record keeping, etc. People who subscribe don't have to worry about finding an issue someplace, they tend to get issues several weeks before the newsstands get them, and they can take out free ads in the 2600 Marketplace.

This is not uncommon in the publishing industry. The NY Times, for example, costs $156.50 at the newsstands, and $234.75 delivered to your door.

Editors Note: The newstand price is now $4.50.