Published 2026.03.12//1 min read

Al-Computer and Electronics Magazine

A visual archive of covers from Lebanon’s Al-Computer and Electronics magazine, one of the Arab world’s first computing publications.

Series: arabic.computer

Al-Computer and Electronics Magazine — figure 1

Al-Computer and Electronics Magazine was first published in Lebanon in March 1984 by Dar Assayad in Lebanon. The magazine was one of the first publications about computers that was published in the Arab world. The magazine’s editor-in-chief was Antoine Edward Boutros. I had the honor to meet Mr. Boutros at Gitex Dubai in 1996. The early editions of the magazine focused on computers and electronics, and in the late nineties it added telecommunications to its topics and title. Many of its covers had beautiful designs by Mr. Salim Sawaya. If you find interesting covers below and check the signature, it is usually that of Mr. Sawaya. Between the 80s and the 90s, the magazine covered all sorts of topics about computers, both software and hardware. The early editions of the magazine included programming listings for various home computers, namely the Commodore 64 and Atari computers. I cherished this magazine because it opened my eyes to the entire computer world when actual computers were expensive to purchase, but imaginations and knowledge acquired through reading the magazine were priceless