89 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
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The Disktop Publishing BBS -
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The Epicenter of Electronic Publishing
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by Ron Albright, Sysop
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The "First Wave" of publishing was restricted to manuscripts hand-
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copied by transcribers and available only to the rich. The "Second
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Wave" started in 1455 with Gutenberg's printing press which made
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books and other material widely available to all. The "Third Wave,"
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just beginning to swell in the information ocean, is the one that
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will sweep us into the next century. It is the wave of "electronic
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publishing." The "Disktop Publishing" bulletin board system ("BBS")
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is your "surfboard" to ride this new wave of information access.
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The Disktop Publishing BBS is a Wildcat! system dedicated all
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interested in the dissemination of information in electronic
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("computer readable") format. The system is a single-line BBS that
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operates 24 hours per day at 205-854-1660. The modem online is a
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U.S. Robotics Courier and supports V.32/V.42 communications at
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1200/2400/9600 bps. Anyone - particularly authors, publishers, and
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consumers of on-disk publishing - are sure to find something of
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interest on the BBS.
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Online since May, 1991, the Disktop BBS recently converted from
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version 2.55 of the Wildcat! software to the highly-acclaimed
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version 3.0 package. The new software offers an immense array of
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cutting-edge facilities. These include:
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- full screen message editing
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- the ability to attach files to messages for immediate
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downloading after reading a message
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- file descriptions of up to 15 lines
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- batch uploads and downloads (up to 99 files)
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- internal support for Xmodem, Zmodem, and Kermit transfers
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- Doors and Net & Echomail support
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There are many more. While the BBS is being adapted to the new
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software - and still is awaiting implementation of some features -
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the goal of the Disktop Publishing BBS remains clear, Namely,
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1. To promote, though improved public awareness, the benefits
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of electronic publishing. These benefits include availability -
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often on a 24 hour a day, on demand basis - of electronic
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publications, faster production time, cheaper cost, easier revision
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and updating, reduced consumption of natural resources, and - using
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appropriate reader software - enhanced presentation and
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readability.
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2. To provide a forum for discussing the unique challenges of
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successfully publishing and marketing disk-based publications.
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Examples might include matching an author or publisher with the
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appropriate medium for a proposed project.
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The BBS is the home of the newly-formed "Disktop Publishing
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Association." Like the BBS, the DPA is dedicated to the advancement
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of "electronic publishing" in all forms. "Electronic publishing,"
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in its broadest sense, means the authorship and production for
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general consumer access of any materials which are primarily read
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by computer and viewed on computer monitors. Electronic publishing
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- also synonymous with "paperless," "digital," and "on-disk"
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publishing - includes fiction and nonfiction works that are stored
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and distributed on disk or available by modem access on "bulletin
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board systems" ("BBSs"). Examples include newsletters, anthologies,
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books, and other materials which can be read by modem or from
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computer disk.
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Currently, the BBS has several conferences for the discussion of
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the issues of electronic publishing. Hypertext, multimedia and
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other are already in place. The usual collections of game, word
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processing, and utility files are supplemented with several files
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areas full of excellent electronic publications.
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In addition, the BBS has a dozen or so "bulletins" which can be
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read online. These are the latest editions of several popular
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"electronic newsletters" including "Z*NET," "PC Review Online," "PC
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Review International," and "Birmingham Telecommunications News,"
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among others. The bulletins are updated as soon as new issues of
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the newsletters are released.
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So, you are invited to drop by and learn more about the "Third
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Wave" of publishing - paperless publishing. With the ability to
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publish more cheaply and quickly that on paper, on-disk publishing
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will be even more liberating to the free flow of information that
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one Gutenberg's press. No longer will authors be shackled to the
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whims and bean-counters of the New York publishing houses. Finally,
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anyone with something to say can find readers for his labors. Join
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the excitement. Grab onto the Disktop BBS and ride the surf into a
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new age of writing and reading.
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