''Computer Currents'' was a freely distributed United States

computer magazine Computer magazines are about computers and related subjects, such as networking and the Internet. Most computer magazines offer (or offered) advice, some offer programming tutorials, reviews of the latest technologies, and advertisements. Hi ...

, with local editions across the country. It was often described as a resource for computer shoppers and users, and compared to other regional computer magazines like ''

MicroTimes ''BAM'' (short for ''Bay Area Music'') was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area from January 1976 until June 1999. History ''Bay Area Music'' magazine was first published in Janua ...

''. It was launched in 1983 as ''Computer Classifieds'', and was renamed ''Computer Currents'' in 1984. Initially distributed in Northern California, the magazine established a franchise in Atlanta in 1987, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston in 1988, and Chicago in 1993. By 1987, there were also regional editions for Southern California, Austin, New York, and Boston. As of 1988, it was published biweekly in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, and monthly in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(Houston, Dallas, Austin), and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. The magazine's media kit described an audited monthly circulation of approximately 612,000 readers. The magazine was acquired by and merged into '' Computer User'' magazine in 2000. ''Computer Currents'' described itself as:

Computer Currents is the
411 411 may refer to: * The year AD 411, the four hundred and eleventh year of the Gregorian calendar * 411 BC * 4-1-1, a telephone directory assistance number in the United States and Canada ** By extension, a slang term for "information" * ''What's ...
/ 911 magazine. It's a source of help and information for PC and Mac business users of all stripes. Computer Currents doesn't torture-test 200 modems or devote space to industry chitchat. Instead, it focuses on real-world solutions for PC and Mac business users, showing them how to buy products, what products to buy, where to buy them, and how to use them. Computer Currents is fundamentally pro-consumerist, and we'll go undercover to ferret out sloppy service and scams. We're also not afraid to poke fun at the industry. In fact, our Gigglebytes column by Lincoln Spector makes a point of it.

The ISSN for the original Bay Area edition was 1090–7572.{{Cite book, title=Computer Currents, oclc = 35455305

References

Defunct computer magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1993 Magazines published in the San Francisco Bay Area Magazines disestablished in 2000 Free magazines