Possibilities - Letter From Phil 10/90

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
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LETTER FROM PHIL 10/90
----------------------

*** From October 1990 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1990 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

Letter from Phil
by Phil Becker

I have just returned from a very pleasant trip to New England.  The weather 
was unbelievable. There can't be more than three days a year in Boston which 
have such clear skies, a near perfect 72 degrees, and just the right breeze.  
And I was there for two of them!  It made me feel great just to step outside. 

I was there to address the September meeting of the Boston Computer Society 
Telecomm Group, and give a presentation of the eSoft product line.  They were 
a very courteous and knowledgeable audience, and I totally enjoyed meeting 
them all. 

I knew that the Boston Computer Society used several TBBS systems.  They have 
a TBBS system which supports their Macintosh user's group, another for the IBM 
PC user's group, and one for internal BCS business use among others.  I 
learned, however, that they view TBBS as groupware -- something I had never 
thought of calling it before.  After all, groupware requires a LAN and lots of 
expensive software and hardware the way I was always told about it. 

However Adam Heath has nearly convinced me.  He told me that the group's 
monthly newsletter "Online Connection" is compiled using TBBS.  He said that 
the writers don't ever meet except online and that the articles are all 
submitted via TBBS.  When the authors have agreed in their message conference 
on what is to be in the next issue, the editor (currently Robert Gorrill) 
downloads the submissions and produces the newsletter with desktop publishing.  
Adam calls TBBS "groupware that works".  Maybe it is... 

After the meeting several of the group took me for a late night meal to a 
popular local restaurant called "Legal Seafood".  I never did figure out if 
the lobsters need a lawyer there, or if they have to have a green card.  Local 
customs can be so confusing to an outsider! 

I always enjoy meeting and talking to users of PC communications.  I learn so 
much, meet such nice people, and hear such heart warming stories.  I also 
enjoy reading my mail when letters like the one from George Peace of UniSys 
(see next page) arrive!  I don't know how I can live up to things like this, 
but I assure you I will keep trying. 

I want to hear from all of you, not just those who are happy.  While it feels 
nice to get letters like this one, I usually learn much more from those who 
are having problems.  I learn what I have to do to make the product easier to 
use, and how to make it better able to solve the problems you have as the 
users of TBBS. 

I will begin a "Letters TO Phil" column in this newsletter soon, so you can 
sound off and ask questions directly.  If you have anything you want to see 
addressed there, please send it either by mail or electronically (on the 
support BBS) to my attention. 

My personal favorite part of this newsletter is the user profiles.  I enjoy 
tremendously seeing how you are using my products.  Many of you are very 
inventive and I am happy to be able to supply software which allows you to 
reliably solve such a wide range of real world problems.  In turn you often 
surprise me by showing me things my software does that I never thought of. 

In this issue there are two profiles instead of one as we usually have.  They 
show you the range of applications TBBS and its expansion modules can deal 
with, from simple data collection to a full blown information service. 

My goal from the beginning with TBBS has been to provide an off the shelf 
solution for multiuser communications tasks which is reliable and low 
complexity.  I also wanted it to have the flexibility to tackle the widest 
possible range of such tasks, and yet not require a lot of technical expertise 
to have a successful outcome.  It is very gratifying to see this happening. 

Thanks to all of you for making this such a great year for me, eSoft, and the 
TBBS product line.  I feel sure it is just the beginning of an even more 
exciting time in the world of PC communications. 

- END -
PS1090-1
Rev. 10/90

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
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interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
eSoft, Inc.

IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
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