I am writing these articles and completing this work because 
I want to see hundreds of thousands of books available for 
my handheld computer.

I am not affiliated with any company or organization, and all 
work I've done is on a purely voluntary basis.  I have never 
received any financial compensation for my work on this 
project.

All I ask is that this work continue through the efforts of 
many, many like-minded people.  Let the recipes, information 
databases, lists, articles, newsletters and books that you 
create be converted to NewtonBook format and uploaded for 
all of us to enjoy!

In the early days of libraries, books were chained to the 
shelves.  In the later period, words were "chained" to paper 
pages.  In the future, words will be available to every child, 
woman and man on the Earth on cheap, mass-produced devices.  
The day is coming soon when you can "prowl the stacks" of 
every library everywhere from under a peach tree in your back 
yard.  It is happening NOW, and will accelerate for many years.  
I'm glad to see it happen.

This massive "dumping" of information will not be valuable, 
unless something else happens.  Monstrous amounts of 
information are just baffling quantities of noise, of no use to 
anyone.  Information needs dedicated human beings who have 
a mania about a certain topic, any topic.  Their massaging, re-
organizing and filtering of information makes it more accessible 
to newcomers, and brings it closer to the magic status of 
"Knowledge".

America Online is the future.  It's friendly, widely-connected (I 
look forward to the global version) and there are many, many 
staffers who somehow fell into the job of making information 
available in useful forms.  These folks have other lives apart 
from AOL, and their dedication to a particular topic is what 
qualifies them.  Their numbers will expand exponentially in the 
new world we are entering.

Every electronic service is feeling pressure to add more 
information, and to make that info friendly and accessible.  
They will hire more-and-more wild-eyed aficionados of more-
and-more-esoteric topics, and this will be very good.  I spent 
ten years of my life being president of a car club, and there is 
little that I don't know about that topic.  Some day, I may head 
a section on a bulletin board on the topic of collecting old cars 
and restoring them yourself.  When I get tired of that, I'll 
probably be happy to move on to a different life for a while, 
which may or may not include online work. I predict that more 
people will "take time to manage the library for a while."  
Volunteerism and dedication will cause our worldwide 
intellectual level to rise, along with our community spirit.

I'm friends with many people who I've never met except 
through my computer screen.  These folks have earned my 
respect through their honesty, hard work and keen minds.  I 
have no idea of the sex, sexual preference, color, ability or 
disability, race, religion or geographical location of most of these 
people, and none of that matters.  This is the way that the 
ancient barriers will come down... Serb vs. Croatian, Arab vs. 
Israeli, homosexual vs. bible-thumper, woman vs. man. None of 
these seem to come up in the midst of happy, dedicated work 
on improving the electronic libraries of the world.  None of 
those are topics that matter to the citizens of the world's 
electronic village.

I'm glad to contribute my pebbles to the avalanche of change.

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

I have devoted over 100 hours of volunteer work to this 
project.  I could NEVER have done it by myself, and I'd like to 
thank the dedicated folks who answered my questions, endured 
my wild proclamations of "Something's Wrong Here!" and 
patiently accepted my apologies for going off half-cocked.

I would like to thank PDA's Craig and Jeff for holding the line 
for me when I was too busy to attend to the many, many 
questions about NewtonBook status coming from the 
subscribers on America Online (AOL).  Craig has been my 
biggest supporter, zinging suggestions and inspirational E-mail 
to me every day for a LONG time.

Thanks to Markus for working so hard to make sure that so 
many public-domain ETEXT files exist on AOL.  His dream is my 
dream.

I deeply thank the crew at the programming shop where they 
are crafting the NewtonBook Tools final versions, for their time 
and patience with my endless questions.  These are folks who 
REALLY care about our future and the prosperity of our planet.  
They are making a better future.

Scott Shwarts and Doctor Newton have gone WAY out on a limb 
to help me, and I know how busy they are these days.  I 
literally would never have been able to do any of this work 
without them.

I want to thank the many folks on AOL who have me feedback 
and criticisms on the early files I uploaded.  Their suggestions 
all have been incorporated in the books I've put together.

I'm grateful to Jeff Gitchel for his major help and co-work in the 
final stages.  Every suggestion he made has been for the sake of 
improving the aesthetic beauty of books in Newton format, and 
his inspirations are what you will see in the "How To" article.  
I'm just a messenger for his ideas.

Most of all, I thank my very patient husband Dennis for:

1). allowing me to buy a Newton with every possible accessory 
when we're desperately saving up every penny to buy a house 
together, and

2) Tolerating my staggering around the house, mumbling jargon 
about dot commands and text filters, when we could have been 
enjoying more "quality time" together.

I love you, sweetheart!

Tony Lindsey (XXL Tony), November 20, 1993