One way to obtain most of the freeware and shareware mentioned in this publication is to download them from CompuServe. As you can tell from past issues, I am a big fan of the HPSYS 95LX CompuServe forum. 95LX users are especially fortunate because SYSOP Ted Dickens conducts the 95LX forum in a way that encourages high-quality participation from its contributors. Even so, we recognized many users might not have the time, patience, or knowledge to download files, so we developed The HP Palmtop Paper ON DISK.
The HP Palmtop Paper ON DISK performs three functions. First, it puts the entire contents of The HP Palmtop Paper in ASCII format. That way you can read one or more copies of The HP Palmtop Paper into your word processor where you can search for the information you want to find, rather than having to leaf through the many pages of all past issues. Secondly, we give our advertisers an opportunity to elaborate on their products, to give you more information so you can make a more informed choice.
Finally, we include all the shareware and freeware mentioned in the issue that we can legally put on the disk. Since our policy is to include only free software on our annual Subscribers Disks, The HP Palmtop Paper ON DISK gives shareware authors a means to get their product into customers' hands.
Shareware authors are typically programmers who have put a lot of effort into developing software, often as a side venture. They are not interested in the expense or effort involved in marketing their product commercially. They operate on an honor system. If you like and use their products, then they require you send them a very reasonable fee -- usually between $5 and $45. It is a great method of offering often superior products to the marketplace at a most reasonable price. If you purchase The HP Palmtop Paper ON DISK and regularly use a shareware program, we ask that you honor the author's request for his fee.