ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
    Subject:  ISDN Module for ZOC (DEVISDN.DLL)
    From   :  Markus Goemmel
  ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

  With this version of ZOC you receive a copy of my (M.G.) ISDN driver which 
  integrates itself neatly into ZOC and allows communication through many
  available ISDN boards (AVM, Bintec, Creatix, Diehl, Elsa, NCP, IBM und 
  Teles are tested and work).

  The development of this module was rather demanding and was started only 
  upon request of ZOC users who asked for an ISDN solution for a reasonable 
  price.  I discussed the matter with Markus (Schmidt) and we decided that
  we could do it if we could charge an additional fee.  We dropped both, 
  the idea of increasing the price for ZOC and the idea of moving up to a 
  V3.0 version number, since this would have made may users (especially 
  outside Germany) pay for a feature they would probably never need or use.

  However, a problem arises with ZOC's update strategy.  All registered 
  users are entitled to use all ZOC versions up to a certain version number 
  (currently either V2.99 or V9.99).  The ISDN module is an Add-On that 
  takes advantage of a device interface in ZOC which was developed for the 
  telnet and named pipe driver (and, at a later point, maybe others like 
  ftp or NETBIOS).  This interface allows for seamless integration into 
  the program, which we admit, makes it hard to percieve the ISDN driver 
  as an independent product.  I could have gone another way (eg. developing 
  an SYS driver, or a program like Ray Gwinn's Vmodem or just distribute 
  the driver in it's own ZIP file with own order form and install program) 
  but we wanted a neat solution that isn't second to any other in regard to 
  user friedlyness and ease of use.

  Would we not be able to charge extra for that module, nobody at all could
  benefit from it (and it's rather low price) because it simply would not 
  exist.  As it is now, those who find the extra fee acceptable will be able 
  to use it (which is IMHO better than the first way).

  This module will remain an exception.  It is definitely not the first step 
  on a path that leads us to a program where each and every new feature will 
  cost extra.  I have supplied free add-ins to ZOC in the past (Kermit and 
  CIS-B or TAP-GIF and TAP-JPG are examples) and I will continue to do so in 
  the future (as there might be VT220, RIP, Hydra or FTP (just to name a few
  of our ideas)).  There might be other exceptions too (national standards
  or demanding features not commonly found in telecom programs) like FAX 
  or T-Online (German videotex) support but these are clearly defined excep-
  tions and not the rule.  And it is imaginable that third parties will 
  develop tools for the ZOC platform as well.
 
  We hope that this way of proceeding will be accepted by our users since 
  we would hate if we had to distribute the ISDN module in another (less 
  user friendly) way in order to make it less prone to unpleasant discussion.

    Markus Goemmel [m.goemmel@emtec.com]
    (and Markus Schmidt [m.schmidt@emtec.com])

  PS: The ISDN module cannot be ordered before release of ZOC V2.10