PC World

History

The publication was announced at the COMDEX trade show in November 1982, and first appeared on newsstands in March 1983.

The magazine was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard, and its first editor was Andrew Fluegelman. PC Worlds magazine and web site have won a number of awards from Folio, the American Society of Business Publication Editors, MIN, the Western Publications Association, and other organizations; it is also one of the few technology magazines to have been a finalist for a National Magazine Award.

Many well known technology writers have contributed to PC World, including Steve Bass, Daniel Tynan, Christina Wood, John C. Dvorak, Stephen Manes, Lincoln Spector, Stewart Alsop, David Coursey, James A. Martin, and others. Editorial leadership has included Harry Miller, Richard Landry, Eric Knorr, Karl Koessel, Phil Lemmons, Cathryn Baskin, Kevin McKean, and Harry McCracken.

In February 1999, PC Worlds number of paid subscriptions reached a record of 1,000,453. At the time, it was the first and only computing magazine with a monthly release schedule to hit that mark. In April 2005, the show Digital Duo was slightly rebranded and relaunched as PC World's Digital Duo, and ran for an additional 26 episodes. As of 2006, PC Worlds audited rate base of 750,000 made it the largest circulation computing magazine in the world.

On July 10, 2013, owner IDG announced that the magazine would cease its thirty-year print run. The issue of August 2013 was the last printed of the magazine PC World, future issues would be digital only.

In December 2024, PCWorld expanded its coverage of personal tech by forming a more formal bond between PCWorld and sister site TechHive, which had been covering smart home and video streaming tech since 2017.

In March 2025, PCWorld's parent company, Foundry, was acquired from IDG/Blackstone by Regent LP.

Countries

Based in San Francisco, PC Worlds original edition is published in the United States; however it is also available in other countries (51 in total), sometimes under a different name:

• PC World in Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, Denmark, Greece, India (from July 2006), Kosovo, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, Ecuador.
• PC Advisor in Ireland and the United Kingdom, which stopped publication in 2017 (Another now discontinued magazine called Personal Computer World and a PC World retailer — neither related to the PC World magazine — already exist or existed in those markets.)
• PC Welt, is the German language edition.
• PCW, is the Hungarian language edition.
• Info Komputer, is the Indonesian language edition.
• Kompiuterija, is the Lithuanian language edition.
• Thế Giới Vi Tính, is the Vietnamese language edition (also called PC World Vietnam).

Controversy

In May 2007, McCracken resigned abruptly under controversial circumstances. According to sources quoted in Wired, McCracken quit abruptly because the new CEO of PC World, Colin Crawford, tried to kill an unfavorable story about Apple and Steve Jobs. Crawford responded, calling media reports of McCracken's resignation "inaccurate". CNET later reported that McCracken had told colleagues that IDG "was pressuring him to avoid stories that were critical of major advertisers."

On May 9, Crawford was transferred to another department, and McCracken returned to PC World until his departure in 2008.

References

References

1. (December 31, 2012). "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Alliance for Audited Media.
2. "Goodbye, Kind PC World".
3. "Editor in Chief Harry McCracken Returns to PCW".
4. "Timely News from the Interactive Entertainment Industry - PC World Reaches One Million".
5. [https://www.jingleways.com/pc-case/best-smallest-atx-pc-cases/ Gaming Guide] {{webarchive. link. (June 15, 2007)
6. Bill Mickey. (July 10, 2013). "IDG's PCWorld Going Digital-Only". Access Intelligence.
7. (July 11, 2013). "PCWorld Exits Print, and the Era of Computer Magazines Ends". Time Magazine.
8. "Meet TechHive, the new PCWorld home for smart home tech".
9. "Blackstone-backed IDG Completes Sale of Foundry to Regent".
10. "Nem csak nevében újul meg a PC World: Mostantól PCW-ként szeretnénk még többet adni".
11. Zetter, Kim. (2007-05-02). "PC World Editor Quits Over Apple Story".
12. (2007-05-04). "PC World editor quits during dispute over Apple story [updated]".
13. Krazit, Tom. (2007-05-02). "PC World editor resigns over apparent ad pressure".
14. (2007-05-03). "Editor quits after PC Mag kills Apple story".
15. McLeod, Ramon G.. (2007-05-09). "Editor in Chief Harry McCracken Returns to PCW".