ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º ANSI Publisher Evaluation Kit º º To Ship on February 1, 1995 º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ I would like to thank each of the numerous TBBS sysops that have either called our office or requested a copy of the ANSI Publisher demo file described in our advertisement in the latest TBBS Possibilities newsletter Advertising Supplement. Because we submitted advertising copy for the newsletter in late September 1994, our intentions were to make the latest edition of ANSI Publisher available. In September 1994 that was Version 1.5. As most of you know, the Possibilities newsletter shipped and was finally delivered to the majority of TBBS sysops in early January 1995. Fortunately, our software development team has added 3-4 additional months of development work and a HUGE set of new features to the product. The bottom line -- Version 1.5 is now terribly out-of-date and ANSI Publisher Version 2.0 is in Beta testing and will be shipping to registered users and recent buyers in approximately 2-3 weeks. For those sysops not familiar with ANSI Publisher, the software is a full- fledged ANSI word processor loaded with advanced tools and document creation capabilities that enable you to create huge ANSI files as large as 65,000 lines long, as well as small, eye-catching BBS menus. ANSI Publisher gives you the power to finally create all of those special color bulletins, advertisements, help files, opening screens, announcements and menus you've always wanted to create, but never had the design tools to tackle the tasks. Version 2.0 has incorporated literally every change suggested by Beta testers, Version 1.5 users, and sysops reviewing the product at the recent 1994 ONE BBSCON convention. Virtually every sysop at the convention that received a full demonstration of the software, as well as a chance to use and test the product "first-hand", bought the product "on-sight". Once we realized the impact this product was going to have on the BBS community, it became readily apparent that sysops provided with quality product documentation, as well as given a reasonable amount of time to put the software into action, would see the power and flexibility of the software and would be "hooked". Consequently, we have spent the last 90 days generating joint ventures and marketing programs to make sure that we put evaluation copies of this software into the hands of literally tens of thousands of BBS sysops by the end of summer 1995. This evaluation package will include a functional demo of ANSI Publisher, a letter describing the benefits of the product and more importantly, printed documentation for the software. We sincerely believe that if a sysop has the opportunity to test ANSI Publisher in action, and has immediate access to a printed software manual that can answer literally every question about the program, its capabilities and limitations, the sysop will have all the tools and the information to make an intelligent and informed buying decision. In the last few years I have come to the conclusion that demos of sophisticated software products on BBSs don't really generate the number of sales expected by the software publisher. More importantly, the demo DOES NOT produce the POSITIVE EXPERIENCE the publisher truly wishes the potential buyer to have. The user is forced to download a large archive file, figure out what each of the 50-200 files in the archive do, install the program, waste hundreds of pages by printing what is often "REALLY BAD" looking ASCII documentation that comes with the demo (once you really do figure out which documentation file to print), and then use that documentation to support the process of learning a new piece of software. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Most Users That Download Software From BBSs ³ ³ Don't Bother To Go Through This Process. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ They simply install the software as quickly as possible and try it, bang on it, and muddle through using the product the best they can until it either breaks or it apparently doesn't do something they want it to do (usually after spending only 15 seconds of trial and error trying to make it work). At this point frustration sets in and the potential for the sale of a good, or even great piece of software is typically gone forever -- not because the software will not do what the user wants it to do, but because finding out if the software will indeed perform a certain function is literally impossible without good documentation and technical support before the sale. In reality, the scenario described above is how I evaluate the software I have downloaded from boards in the past. I do it this way, and many sysops I know also do it this way. The bottom line -- demos on BBSs DON'T generally work! Consequently, our plans are NOT to put demos of ANSI Publisher on BBSs all over the world. From the sales of our BBS books over the past 2.5 years we have generated a huge list of BBS sysop names and addresses. In addition, we have access to what we believe to be the largest BBS list in the world -- approximately 35,000 names and addresses. Over the next 6 months, our plans are for careful direct mail testing and mailing of ANSI Publisher Evaluation Kits to each BBS sysop on these lists. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ But What If You Want An Evaluation Kit And You're Not On Our List? ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ By all means we'll send you an Evaluation Kit if you call and request one. To get your kit simply call (800) 321-8285 and tell the Customer Service Representative you want The ANSI Publisher Evaluation Kit. Your name and address information will be taken and an Evaluation Kit will be rushed to you at no charge as soon the documentation is back from the printer -- by February 1, 1995. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ What If You Really Want To Evaluate The Product Now? ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ If you are really in a rush and want to evaluate the product, our Graphics Design Department is creating a WordPerfect Envoy document. This is essentially a self-viewing Windows version of the documentation created in FrameMaker, the software we use on various software platforms here at PC Information Group, Inc. to typeset books and technical manuals. The Envoy document looks exactly like the final printed documentation and can be searched, viewed as thumbnails and even printed on a laser printer. The printed output will essentially be a 300 dpi version of the final documentation that will be shipped in the Evaluation Kit. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ To get this Pre-Evaluation Kit you will need to call our Technical ³ ³ Support Line and request a copy from a Technical Support Engineer. ³ ³ Please call (507) 452-0450 for a copy. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º PC Information Group, Inc. º º 1126 East Broadway º º Winona, MN 55987 º ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ º Publishers of Tips, Tricks and Techniques º º for TBBS, System Designer and Visual SDL º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ