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Digital Publishing Association News
Volume 2, Number 5 - May, 1993
Copyright (C) 1993 Ron Albright
This, and all, issue of the "Digital Publishing Association News"
is sponsored by the Digital Publishing Association and its member
publications. "Digital News" features news, product developments,
and other information of interest to authors, distributors, and
readers of electronic publications. Items presented here serve to
inform the public of the electronic publishing industry, that
industry being the authorship and publication of reading materials
in electronic format, rather than traditional, paper publishing.
Back issues may be found on the Digital Publishing BBS at
205-854-1660.
Membership Update...
As you recall, last month we announced a membership fee structure
for the Digital Publishing Association. The DPA has reached a point
where fees were needed to continue to carry out public relations
activities, fund the "Digital Quill" awards, and upgrade the BBS,
among other plans. The latest list of members includes:
President's Club - Mike White $100.00
Full Membership - Ted Husted $25.00
Del and David Freeman $25.00
Paul Peacock $25.00
Ed Brezezowski $25.00
Jan Moens $25.00
Ian Firla $25.00
Walter Gammons $25.00
Rod Willmot $25.00
Bret Fledderjohn $25.00
David Bealer $25.00
Harvey Forman $25.00
BBS Membership - Mike Carnell - The Book Board
Association Membership - Byron Lanning $10.00
Leslie Stuphen $10.00
Margie Smith $10.00
To those who have already joined, we appreciate your support. For
those of you still waiting in the wings, I encourage you to
formally join the DPA and support our activities. We hope to make
the DPA a strong voice in promoting electronic publishing in both
the publishing and education industry and we need your help to
continue our work. Membership dues cover
- postage costs for sending out information packets to interested
parties
- press relations activities in sending out press release and
brochures and disks to press contacts
- certificates and other awards for the annual "Digital Quill"
Awards for Excellence in Electronic Publishing competition
- support and upgrade of the BBS (I just ordered the 3.6 upgrade to
the Wildcat! BBS software - it greatly enhances the BBS
capabilities including now supporting echoing FidoNet conferences)
- and other related expenses
Without member support of these activities, we will never rise to
vision we all have for the electronic publishing industry. With
your support and input, the DPA can, truly, become a meaningful
voice in the publishing and computer industries. Thank you for your
membership.
A New Home on GEnie...
On or about April 21, the "Digital Publishing" RoundTable (Page
1395) opened its electronic doors on GEnie, the second largest
consumer electronic network in America. As you know, the DPA had
adopted a section on the "Genie Lamp" Roundtable (Page 515) as our
national home and enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with
John Peters, Mike White, and Jim Flanagan, the Co-Sysops, there.
Now, after convincing the "powers that be" at GEnie headquarters
that electronic publishing has a bright future, GEnie has granted
us our own RoundTable for digital publishing.
The new area will be dedicated solely to electronic publishing. It
contains a number of libraries for publications of various types,
a message base, and capabilities for "real-time" conferencing. The
DPA will be taking advantage of all these facilities in the coming
months. There are already over 1000 publications - books,
magazines, newsletters, and others - in the Digital Publishing
libraries as well as message threads on major aspects of electronic
publishing.
The best news is that John Peters, head sysop of the "DIGIPUB"
network has pledged to contribute 10% of all his revenues from
system usage to the DPA. So, everytime you log onto the Digital
Publishing RT, part of your time goes into the DPA coffers
supporting our organizations libraries. A wonderful gesture from
John and his co-workers, don't you think? So, if you haven't
already become a GEnie subscriber, think about it. It's the best
buy going for a pay-for-service network and is clearly behind the
digital publishing industry. Thanks to John, Mike, and Jim for the
hard work it took to get the Roundtable up and running and for
their continued support of the DPA and its membership.
More statistics on computer usage...
For all you looking for more ammunition to convince the
disbelievers about the viability of electronic publishing as a
market, here's another survey for your barrels. Half of 2500
respondents to the California Research Tabulations survey of home
computer usage (commissioned by Packard Bell) said they spent more
than 10 hours per week at the computer, and increase from the 30
per cent reported in 1991. Users who are at their home computers
more than 30 hours a week, termed "power users" by the survey,
increased to nearly 10 per cent. Word processing remains the number
one activity reported by 57 per cent of users, with personal
finance and business applications making up the second spot at 28
per cent. Interestingly, the third most popular activity was
"entertainment software," making up 27 per cent of time spent.
There's where we have our niche!
Another convert...
Bill Machrone, former Editor of PC Magazine who still writes
regularly in that publication, has joined the rest of us in "seeing
the truth" about the future of electronic publishing. In his
"Discontent with Content" editorial in the May 11, 1993 issue, he
writes:
"We're in danger of drowning under a deluge of information bases,
online news services, electronic mail, bulletin board services, and
publications. The information available to us greatly exceeds out
ability to absorb it...Some solve it [the information overload
problem] by prestructuring the data. A number of electronic books,
aimed at both the PC and Mac markets, stand ready to enhance your
reading experience with indexing, searching, graphics, annotations,
glossaries, sound clips, animation, and bookmarks. As one who has
pooh-poohed such efforts in the past, I can finally say that the
products are tolerable, even desirable. Books on-disk are going to
be big, and now that the software works, smaller, cheaper laptops
will be the gating factor."
We congratulate Mr. Machrone for admitting the error of his ways
and professing, now, to see the light. We know, of course, that
electronic books are, indeed, going to be big - both commercially
and creatively. The software available right now - like DART,
Orpheus, TXTBook/GRFBook, XL2000, HyperWriter, and the rest - is
ready. The industry is already making the move to smaller, lighter,
and brighter. It's already possible to get a beautiful palmtop with
a decent display for around a $1000. We are getting there and the
next 18 months are going to see the liftoff of this whole industry
into the heavens.
PDA Update...
The "Personal Digital Assistant" marketplace continues to heat to
a boiling point. The hottest news is that communications giant AT&T
has followed through on their July, 1992 announcement to enter the
PDA market. The AT&T Personal Communicator, yet to be formally
named, will arrive on store shelves in June, 1993. It is already
shipping in volume. AT&T is selling the devices through a 1-800
order line as well (1-800-458-0880).
The AT&T PDA has a pen-based display and an operating system with
fax, modem, phone and other functions. It runs the PenPoint
operating system from Go Corp. While it's the first so-called
"personal digital assistant" to ship, Apple's better-known Newton
device is due to ship within a few months. The sale price ranges
from $2,000 to $4,000, depending on options like an internal hard
drive and cellular phone. Spokesmen admit that the company does not
expect to have a mass-marketed product right away, but think it
will happen with mass production lowering prices below $1000.
New electronic magazine debuts...
"Spilled Ink - The Northwest Writer's Connection" (on the DPA BBS
as SI-0393.ZIP) has appeared out of the Great Northwest. Judy
Tucker, the editor, has assembled a wonderful collection of writers
and the first issue features sixteen wonderful pieces of fiction
and humor. Here's the lineup:
Familiar Magic ................................ Devon Monk
The Story of Bitsie Eugene ................. Chris Goodwin
One Day In Hell ................................ Pete Ross
The Welcoming ............................. Judy L. Tucker
I Have Asked ...................................... Thaben
Redman ......................................... Pete Ross
For Patric ................................. Bridget Riley
Friends ................................... Judy L. Tucker
Rain ....................................... Jane Paterson
My Life Is A Cry ............................. Wally Haven
Sololitude of the Sea .............................. Kobra
Love me for me ............................ Arron Stirling
Run Silent, Run Deep ...................... Andrew Esteban
Dragon flying in the sky ...................... Devon Monk
Midnight Vision ............................. Chris Childs
Shades of Grey ............................ Mitch P. Jones
Ted Husted and UserWare offers start-up disk...
Ted Husted, UserWare and Iris/DART fame, is offering a two-disk,
high-density set of authoring/reading software for the IBM and
compatibles. The disk set will offer the following (and probably
more since Ted mentions he still has 500 kilobytes free on the
disks for more material):
INSTALL EXE 24791 4-22-93 1:00a - setup utility
ASC2COM EXE 234783 8-16-92 2:15p - ASCII to COM
BDEXX EXE 303806 6-19-92 2:55p - BDEXX
DART EXE 162140 3-01-93 2:01a - Dart
DREAM EXE 106874 6-21-91 10:16p - Writer's Dream
GRFBK EXE 77351 3-25-93 9:37p - Graphic Book
HHV EXE 219542 8-06-91 11:20p - HyperHelper
HYPERSEE EXE 26071 12-05-90 5:54p - HyperSee
HYPSHELL EXE 211320 10-17-92 3:30p - HyperShell
IRIS EXE 252820 9-10-90 2:09p - Iris
LIST EXE 103884 9-13-91 7:06a - List
LOOKBOOK EXE 255182 9-21-91 9:51a - LookBook
OH EXE 318981 3-20-93 2:58p - Orpheus
READ EXE 12335 2-26-91 8:05a - Read
REXXCOM EXE 83660 2-24-93 7:00a - RexxCom
PACKING LST 656 4-22-93 1:00a - A list of files
It appears to be an excellent starter-kit for anyone interested in
putting out an electronic publication on the DOS machine. To order,
contact Ted at UserWare, 4 Falcon Lane East, Fairport, NY 14450-
3312 and get the pricing for the "DC Gold" publisher's package.
DPA in Europe...
Jan Moens, long-time DPA member, reports that he has established a
DPA BBS to support the distribution of publications in Europe. The
number for the BBS is +32.2.672 88 88. The BBS is a subsystem of a
large, established 8 line BBS with more than 1000 registered users
from all over and sporting modem speeds up to 14400 bits per
second. Jan is a co-sysop there and will keep the system open for
now, while he waits to establish his own "DPA Europe" BBS. If you
want to make sure you get your publication into the European
readership and don't want to negotiate transcontinental phone
service, send a disk to Jan by post to:
Jan Moens
Generaalbosweg 22
3090 Overijse
Belgium
He will make sure it makes it onto the BBS. Jan has been appointed
our European DPA Coordinator and is working actively to make the
DPA a significant presence in Europe.
The right tool for the right job...
A recent discussion on a CompuServe conference on electronic
publishing brought a question from one of the attendees about what
is the best software to start an electronic publication. The
general consensus was that you need to chose the right tool for the
right job. That was the only thing universally agreed upon. Each
person has their own personal choice. Thanks, again, to Ted Husted,
the following list could be used to help you narrow down your
choices for publishing software.
This is Ted's list of suggested software. While it is not all-
inclusive, it does offer an informed choice for choosing the right
tool for the intended job. Comments and additions are welcomed.
A novel or straight text.
ASC2COM
WRITERS DREAM
TXTbook
A hypertext reference.
HYPERWRITER
ORPHEUS
A tutorial or game.
IRIS
Tutorial Writer
An office procedure manual.
DART
HYPERWRITER
ORPHEUS
A magazine or newsletter.
DART
HYPERWRITER
IRIS
WRITERS DREAM
Text and graphics.
GRAPHIC BOOK (GRFBK)
HYPERWRITER
ORPHEUS
Larger documents.
DART
HYPERWRITER
IRIS
ORPHEUS
Statutes and regulations.
ASC2COM
DART
BBS Upgrade...
I recently upgraded the DPA BBS to Wildcat! version 3.6. The reason
for the upgrade was mainly because the new version adds Fido
Netmail support to the "TomCat" mail echo routines. There are, of
course, some other wonderful additions to the superb Wildcat! BBS
software but, for me, this was what prompted the upgrade. With this
capability, we can hopefully network with FidoNet messages and
carry them on the DPA BBS. Stay tuned for more as time progresses.
I have also added a "members only" conference area (Conference #11)
to the BBS. For those of you who have formally joined the DPA (i.e.
paid dues), this area is now open to support matters of interest to
the DPA membership. Be sure to check the conference each time you
log onto the DPA BBS.
Better Macintosh support...
I recently went further in debt by buying one of the new Macintosh
Performa 405 computers. Since we are getting more and more interest
from the Apple/Macintosh community, it was high-time we were able
to support them at the DPA. Thus, we now have access to a Mac to
review Macintosh publications, Hypercard stacks, and the also start
providing improved member support for Macintosh users.
Speaking of Macintosh...
After being titillated by John Gaudreault describing his "Waldo"
hypertext utility, and hearing Robert Jordan discuss the beauty of
the Voyager Expanded Books, it didn't take much to make me make the
plunge to buy a Mac. What did the trick was hearing of Walter
Gammons' "WonderDisk." WonderDisk is a Hypercard format stack that
is a literary magazine. Wonderdisk is foremost a journal of very
contemporary, original, previously unpublished science fiction,
fantasy, and "tasteful" horror short stories. The stack features
original illustrations and feature articles on related genre topics
and science essays - with topics such as theoretical physics,
astronomy, quantum and string theory, genetics and the like -
namely, stuff to stir the imagination. A trial edition of
Wonderdisk is available on GEnie and the DPA BBS.
WonderDisk is accepting charter subscriptions at 28% off the
regular, single-disk price. You can get a quarterly disk (4 issues
per year) for only $21.00; a two-year subscription (8 issues) is
just $36.00.
More exciting news: Walter and Wonderdisk are looking for
submissions. WonderDisk pays for material accepted for publication.
You can contact them for details for submitting materials. You can
contact Walter Gammons at WonderDisk, P.O. Box 58367, Louisville,
KY 40268-0367. Now that I have a Mac, I can't wait to take a look!
Closing thoughts...
From the Washington Post, May 2, 1993 comes "Data Highways
...Complex Problems of Funding, Standards, Rules Remain Unresolved
as Grids' Construction Begins...Can We Get There From Here?" by
John Burgess. The article discusses the future of the national
communications network and what problems are involved in
establishing it what it could accomplish.
"'The thousands of volumes that are contained today on the
shelves of libraries could be transferred into digital form and ...
be made available to any place in the country electronically,' says
one of the concept's biggest promoters in Congress, Rep. Rick
Boucher (D-Va.) a member of the House committee on science and
technology.
"Students could troll distant libraries for digitized film
clips, recorded speeches and photographic images of original
documents. Reading about the 1963 civil rights march on Washington
is one thing; reading about it and viewing newsreels and listening
to a recording of Martin Luther King's speech would be a much
richer learning experience, many educators contend."
The future is clearly bright for electronic publishing! Stay tuned,
spread the word, and stay active!