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The local computer publishing marketplace has taken a quantum leap, just like the computer industry it serves.
For nine years, ComputorEdge, a free weekly computer magazine, had a county market monopoly. In the last year, competition in the industry has doubled, with the addition of two new rivals -- Computer Resource and ComputerLink, a bi-monthly supplement in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
But the competition between the three publications isn't entirely unfriendly. In fact, ComputorEdge and ComputerLink have developed a symbiosis of sorts.
"It didn't start out that way," admitted Kevin Leap, associate publisher of ComputorEdge, "but that's what it's grown into. We have a very good relationship with them (ComputerLink), and I wouldn't have predicted that a year ago. We advertise with them. They advertise with us. We complement one another."
Computer Resource started a year ago with the support of several disgruntled advertisers who split from ComputorEdge after it raised its advertising rates. Neither of its competitors expected Computer Resource to last. But it has thrived. In fact, Computer Resource has expanded into Los Angeles.
Sam Gadalla, publisher of Computer Resource, said he and his brother, Sherif, were in unrelated businesses when they saw an opportunity to break into the computer publishing industry last year.
"Well over 50 percent of their...