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From: TimB1557@aol.com
To: ishizuka@nikkeibp.co.jp, editor@ra.isisnet.com, snooker@interlog.com,

Subject: CONNECT THE WORLD WITH MERLIN

The following note was excerpted from the Editorial Page of the
April 1996 issue of the OS/2 CONNECT newsletter:

---------------------------------------------------------------

CONNECT THE WORLD WITH MERLIN 

A couple of weeks ago the Board of Directors of our local Tampa 
Bay OS/2 Users' Group (TBOUG) met to discuss group activities 
and plans.  Since we're always looking for ways to promote OS/2, 
discussions turned to how our group could best support IBM 
locally in its promotional efforts.  One idea was to conduct 
demonstrations of OS/2 at some of the computer super stores in 
the area (CompUSA, Computer City, and Egghead Software).  This
would help educate both the consumer and local store sales 
people alike.  Although this type of demo could be easily 
performed, we questioned why we should stop there.  Perhaps a 
more dramatic presentation could be done to showcase the power 
of the product.  Instead of a single demonstration, one store 
at a time, an alternative plan was proposed:  to conduct 
several presentations throughout the Tampa Bay area 
simultaneously on the same day all connected through a network.
This would allow a presenter in Tampa to show what was going 
on at other stores in Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, etc.  
But then again, "Why stop there?"  Why not link into other user 
groups throughout Florida?   Again we asked, "Why stop there?"  
Why not link all of the other OS/2 user groups around the globe?
Perhaps we could build a map of the world over the Internet 
using OS/2 Warp Connect and OS/2 Warp Server.  The map could 
show who has logged on to the network over a 24 hour period of 
time (such as user group name, location, time, etc.; perhaps a 
graphic image such as a JPG or GIF file could be uploaded or 
even an audio message could be placed on the map).  Think about 
it: 

*  It would invigorate computer super stores who have 
   historically taken a ho-hum approach to selling OS/2.

*  It would dispel the belief that OS/2 isn't widely used.

*  It would showcase the features of the product.

*  The press would find it interesting media event in that one 
   computer product was able to easily link the world together.

*  It would be incredibly simple to do (and cheap for IBM).
  
But when would be the best time to conduct such an event?  How 
about the launch of the next generation of OS/2 Warp Connect, 
"Merlin," the version aimed specifically at the end-user, 
scheduled for delivery around mid-year (perhaps July). 

This is exactly what I proposed to John W. Thompson, Wally Casey 
and other IBMers at the Warp Server launch in San Francisco.  
Thompson in particular seemed to find the idea intriguing.  From 
IBM's point of view, the project would be simple to implement; 
they would have to supply a dedicated Warp Server machine and 
provide Internet access to it.  They would, of course, also have 
to supply user group volunteers with an advanced copy of "Merlin" 
to demonstrate.

Recruiting user group or Team OS/2 volunteers should not be a 
problem.  We could probably garner the necessary volunteers from 
the readers of OS/2 CONNECT alone. 

IBM has not promised to implement this idea yet but they said 
they would give it some serious thought.  In the meantime, if 
you or your user group are interested in participating in this 
project, please drop me a line to express your interest.  Please 
include your name and title, user group name, mailing address, 
country, telephone, fax, and e-mail address. 
                                                                          
            
                              - Tim Bryce
                                Editor, OS/2 CONNECT 
                                April 1996
                                TimB1557@aol.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE:

OS/2 CONNECT is THE authoritative source for contact information
in the universe of IBM's OS/2 32-bit operating system and is
available in two forms:  INF and HTML (at our web site).

Look for CON0496.ZIP on the following networks:

1.  Commercial Networks:

    A.  America Online

        In Computing; "OS/2 Forum" - under "OS/2 Newsletters"

    B.  CompuServe

        In the "IBM OS/2 Users+" Forum (GO OS2USER), go to the 
        Library & Browse the "Documentation" section.

    C.  NiftyServe (Japan)  - in the FOS2FAN forum.
        (CON0496J.ZIP)

    D.  IBM Link

        In the "BBS1" section (OS/2 BBS section);
        "SOFTWARELibrary"; "NEWSletters".

2.  On the Internet:

    FTP Sites:  ftp-os2.cdrom.com  (/pub/os2/incoming) or
(pub/os2/newsltr)
                ftp.omen.com.au    (/pub/incoming)
                ftp.iinet.net.au   (/pub/os2/incoming/)

    World Wide Web Site:  
    http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/connect

3.  On Fidonet:

    File Requestable using magic name CONNECT from 3:690/354 at 
    28,800 V.Fast.  Downloadable by all callers, from +61-9-454-6970 
    at 28,800 V.Fast.

4.  Bulletin Boards:

    Fort Weyr BBS (Sauk Rapids, MN)                       612/654-8516  
    Gateway/2 (St. Louis, MO)                             314/771-9280
    Greater Chicago Online (Chicago, IL)                  708/895-4042
    MBA's The "PRIDE" Network (Palm Harbor, FL)           813/786-4864
    Mid-Atlantic OS/2 BBS (Virginia Beach)                804/422-8462
    New England Online (Boston, MA)                       617-961-7870
    OS/2 Connection (San Diego, CA)                       619/549-4215
    OS/2 Northwest (Bellevue, WA)                         206/957-4513
    OS/2 Shareware;Pete Norloff's BBS (Fairfax, VA)       703/385-4325
    Programmer's Mark BBS (Brooklyn, NY)                  718/921-9267
    Pyramid/2 (Palo Alto, CA)                             415/494-7497
    Tiara Information Services (Perth, West. Australia) +61-9-454-6970

The OS/2 CONNECT INF file may be copied and distributed free of
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact...

Tim Bryce 
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT
M. Bryce & Associates, Inc.
777 Alderman Road
Palm Harbor, FL  34683
Tel:  813/786-4567
Fax:  813/786-4765
BBS:  813/786-4864
E-Mail:  TimB1557@aol.com
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