Popular Electronics - Definition and Overview

A magazine published in the United States from 1954 to 2003, by Gernsback Publications (headed by Hugo Gernsback, author and inventor, and publisher of numerous technical, science fiction, and pulp magazines). In its later years it was retitled to its nickname, "Poptronics," which still exists as a website.

Popular Electronics began as a ham radio hobbyist magazine, but was the first to bring digital electronics and personal computers to the hobbyist. Among its landmark stories and projects were the introduction of PONG, a video display terminal called the Tom Swift terminal, and the debut of the Altair 8800 personal computer.