The Bangkok Post prints the first and last 2011 issue of Database today as the Thai daily buries the IT supplement after 24 years.
Borisuthiboun Dasaneyavaja, editor for Database, wrote in the farewell column that only Wanda Sloan’s two columns – The Sloan Ranger and App-shop – will be the only sole survivour of The Bangkok Post pull out apocalypse which also sees the end of all its pull outs like Motoring, Outlook, Horizon, Real Time, My Life and Education.
Readers of The Bangkok Post will, however, see a new section call LIFE.
The team at The Bangkok Post ended the highly popular supplement with fitting tribute of the years gone by.
Post Database' founder and former Editor Tony Waltham paid tribute to the wonderful team he had over the years. He wrote,
Sadly, this is the last issue of Post Database, the weekly pullout section of the Bangkok Post that had its genesis in February 1987, almost 24 years ago. Since then, and every week since the beginning of 1989, Database has kept Bangkok Post readers up-to-date with news about the rapid and remarkable growth of the Information Technology industry, both around the world and here in Thailand.
… As for what will come next, well only time will tell. But there are several talented IT journalists at a loose end right now!
Don Sambandaraksa, technology writer at Database, wrote about how his experience at the IT supplement taught him to be a better journalist.
Ultimately I learned what it meant to be a journalist. Like Peter Parker, Clark Kent or any other number of superheroes with a day job as a reporter, I learned that great power brings with it great responsibility. Society has a special place for media and one needs to repay that trust by serving one's readers well, with truth and analysis.
When I joined the Bangkok Post full time, Tony Waltham gave me only one order: Do whatever I want, just do not get him in court. I must have pushed that envelope on many occasions, especially during the Surayuth government, but in the end, I never got either of my editors in court. Mission accomplished.
But most of all I learned what Confucius meant that if you choose a job you love, you will never have to work a single day in your life.
I loved every day of my job at Database so much, but alas, all good things must come to an end.
Rather than looking back at the past, James Hein looked into his crystal ball and predicted what computing will be in 20 years time.
My favourite part of the IT world is that no one can even guess where we will be in 20 years. Wetware computers built into our skulls and thought based interfaces are a definite possibility. Seemingly infinite power supplies for our devices is also likely. By that last one I mean more power then we can comfortably use in a day or even a week of use. As for the rest who can say. I'm glad that I have been able to be with you to this point, especially alongside such writers as Tony Waltham and Wanda Sloan.
Graham K. Roger recalled the days he was tasked to use the Mac Quadra after his 386 computer died on him.
While I was comfortable with the way Macs worked in those days (Windows 3 had just been released), Systems 7, 8 or 9 were not really inspiring, although it was easy to get the work done. When OS X came along, I was initially shocked, but within a couple of days took to the new operating system as its potential was obvious. I have seen nothing from any other developer to change that thought.
I persuaded Database to take the column in April 2002 and it appeared every two weeks then. A year later the frequency increased to three or four times a month. A bit later 'eXtensions' appeared every week. I was also fortunate to be invited by Apple to San Francisco four times, starting with the announcement of the iPhone. Along the way, the Mac user base in Thailand has increased considerably, in line with Apple sales worldwide. That includes a huge expansion of retail outlets in Thailand, now under the iStudio and iBeat franchise names: but there is clearly a long way to go.
And the sole surivour of the The Bangkok Post pull out apocalypse, Wanda Sloan, called for a “moment of silence” for the death of Database.
The death of a newspaper at 23 is a sad event, but the birth of a new publication is a happy occasion. Talk about your mixed emotions.
I was only a spectator at the birth of Post Database and its childhood. But Tony invited me to participate fairly early on in the still-heady years, when writers like Woody Khoman and John "The Maven" DeHaven were at their peak, and writing both intelligently and instructively about these new-fangled computer thingummies.
I can already hear the wailing of several PR agencies who sadly lost a set of journalists whom they can pitch for stories and a publication which they can no longer depend on to meet their Advertising Value Equivalency KPI.
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