Three Internet years ago, which seem like three days, we started the first issue of IEEE Computing Now. We had a few ideas, a couple of volunteers and a lot of ambition. I remember how little attention we got when we tried to sell online-only presence, multimedia content, social networking, and mashable services. Our vision of delivering content across all IEEE Computer Society sources (magazines, transactions, conferences, chapters, books, technical committees) rang the bell only with few entrepreneurial staff and volunteers.

Three years on, we have a strong editorial board with liaisons to all magazines, a number of transactions, departments, and several geographic regions. We run monthly guest edited issues on topics, such as data storage, multi-cores, Clouds, and virtual worlds, and many these themes also have associated multimedia with interviews, visualizations, and so on. Our CN Labs advances the state of the art in content delivery by experimenting with iPhone and Android phones, with twitter mashups and iGoogle apps. We have a few other ongoing research projects and many more where help is wanted. The CN Newsletter gets delivered to over 70,000 subscribers. Our major success is the use and adoption of Computing Now. As CN’s social networking strategy has expanded to other facets of the IEEE Computer Society, our impact reaches not only magazines but also the computer.org Web site, transactions, and even the conference organizers reach out to us for advertisement and special reports.

Some major challenges remain: ongoing IT improvements (personalization, customization) and financial sustainability. With the evolution of IEEE Computer Society IT, we believe that we will continuously address our IT needs. We are still exploring various opportunities to improve our finances. That said, we believe that as long as we do cool stuff the right business model will eventually come, — just like in the movie Social Network.

This will be my last year as Editor in Chief of Computing Now, and I am currently seeking my successor, who I hope will bring new strengths to IEEE Computing Now and take it to new heights. The formal search process will start this Fall with the appointment of the search committee. If you are interested or know of a good candidate, please approach IEEE Computing Now staffers Steve Woods (swoods@computer.org) or Brooke Miner (bminer@computer.org).

As at previous anniversaries my thanks first and foremost go to our readership: without you there would be no Computing Now. Second, I would like to thank all Computing Now volunteers and staff, particularly my associate editors Christian, Doree, George, Mark, and Ron, the whole editorial board, and the staff Brooke, Brandi, Jennie, Monette, and Steve. Our weekly meetings are paying off. Finally, I would like to thank the Computing Society’s leaders for supporting and trusting Computing Now. I look forward to new endeavors, such as the IEEE Computing Now entrepreneurial competition and many other new ideas we are implementing as a part of CN Labs.

Dejan Milojicic
Editor in Chief, IEEE Computing Now.

Some of the quotes we received about Computing Now.

“Computing Now’s launch three years ago signaled the Computer Society’s first, serious online service for distributing IP to the computing community.  This was the beginning of a trend that now includes online delivery of more and more of our ‘traditional’ print products.  CN and its supporting volunteers and staff continue to break exciting new ground for us, ensuring that we continue to be a relevant professional society in the 21^stCentury.”  — Dr. Sorel Reisman, President, IEEE Computer Society, Managing Director, MERLOT.ORG

“In just a short time, Computing Now has established itself as an important publishing platform for the society. It has allowed us to reach new audiences in new ways. It represents the best kind of innovation that the Society has to offer. ” — David Alan Grier, IEEE Computer Society, First Vice President, Publications Board.

“Hey, I like the email and content looks superb.”

“This is the greatest value add I have had in my 5 year membership of the Computer Society. Your scheme of offering interesting articles from other publications for download is a great benefit to members.”

“Love the format, layout and functionality of the CN website.”

“I’ve been a member of the IEEE Computer Society for many years. The CN web format is nicely executed.  So much more timely and more convenient to dip into than the magazine. Nice work – I look forward to more!”

“I finally found this Web site, which is awesome! I should have found it last quarter. “

When I look back, what am I most proud of after these two years? 

1. We sustained, we grew, we improved. When we started, we did not know how to organize Computing Now, few trusted in us, and it was only Mark, Crystal, Brooke, and me. Dick Price tapped us on the back and said, “Go, guys, and make it happen!” Then he added, “You may even succeed!” Today our editorial board is comprised of remarkable 24 individuals representing every magazine, four departments, and special topics. Five staff members help us deliver Computing Now content around the clock. Our newsletter goes to over 68,000 members. We will soon formalize our status within IEEE while continuing to deliver value to membership. 
2. We made an impact.  When we started, we quickly realized that although magazines are best suited for Computing Now, we could easily support other entities in a similar manner. Transactions, chapters, and conferences seem obvious beneficiaries of Computing Now, and we are aggressively reaching out to integrate support for them. Standards, books, education, and other entities are next in line. The things we’ve learned have directly influenced the CS’s social networking strategy and computer.org as a whole. 
3.  We were innovative. We were the first in the CS to engage in social networking activities, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. More engineering and more fun resulted out of porting our content to the iPhone, Android, and iGoogle. An eBook reader is in progress, and we have great ideas for tagging, recommender systems, and automated analysis of our pages (look at our CN Labs page for more details). We very much welcome your feedback and even more so your help. Please contact us if you’d like to get involved. 

Where are we going? We have the following goals in front of us:  

1. Elevate membership benefits to new services. Industry has never been as dynamic as it is today. We envision Computing Now as a portal of many services for IEEE CS membership: professionals and academics. To those who read and those who write papers, for those who standardize and those who use standards. For professors and students, and engineers likewise. In the same way as the world has evolved from Internet to Web to cloud services, our contributions to our membership should evolve. 
2. Reach out to membership and enable them to more actively help create content. We’d love to convert the digital library into a read-write model; sometimes the comments on papers can be more valuable than the paper itself. We recognize the long tail effect, that today there are increasingly more authors of content, and that the crowd knows much more than any individual. A new effort is underway to automate creation of special interest groups without compromising the quality of content. 
3. Continue to improve delivery models and adopt new technologies. We would very much like to know exactly how much each page on Computing Now is viewed, by whom, and how can we increase our value to our users. Ultimately, it is the digital library that needs to be brought to members as close as possible. The CS should become a place where professors can mashup papers for their lectures, where students can learn from online courses, professionals from continued education and through online standardization tools. 

Parents know very well that once a baby starts walking, the peace and relaxation are gone, replaced with a continuous struggle and fear over whether the baby will fall and hit something…. Computing Now is on both feet and we need to make sure that it remains steady on its course. Please help us in this endeavor and let us know how can we do more for you.
 
Before we blow out the candles, first and foremost I would like to thank our readers. Without you, Computing Now would not exist. I would also like to thank the whole editorial board, volunteers, and staff. Without you, Computing Now  would not be as good as it is!
 
Dejan Milojicic, Editor (“In-Chief”) of Computing Now.