(Curious to hear what I had to say in previous Forewords? If so, then check the Pastwords.)
When I announced in February in the Commodore newsgroups that I was working on a new issue of the Products List, I gave the standard estimate of when it should be done. That ETA was for around May or June. As you can see, this ain't spring (unless you're in the southern hemisphere).
So, what happened? Basically, I got caught up in Real Life: the company I worked for went out of business. I was able to get hired by another company in the same field right away, but my workload and stress level went up. So, I've spent quite a bit of time working on miscellaneous things to relax. As part of this, I would start working on the Products List, set it aside for a while, then start again, set it aside..., et cetera.
When I finally seriously started back up on the Products List, I decided to finish it in two phases. The first phase will be what I can research by myself. This is the Phase One edition that you are reading right now. Phase Two will be the update that comes after I've had a chance to write to some people that I can't contact through the Internet. Hopefully, the responses will come in before the end of the year.
The other change I've made is how the Products List is distributed. The primary way for obtaining and getting the Product List on paper will be through an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. PDF files are usable just about anywhere, and don't change their appearance when printed from different computers. Some PostScript printers can even print the PDF files themselves if you copy the file to the printer rather than opening the PDF file and selecting "print".
Since there will inevitably be updates to the Products List, there will be a matching Updates PDF file that should also be downloaded. It is easier to change a separate Updates file than it is to reorganize the entire Products List, so use this to supplement the main Products List. The main Products List will be updated when Phase Two occurs, and the cover page will indicate the date of the change.
Acrobat PDF files are usually small enough to fit onto a PC or Mac disk, so you should be able to take it to work, to a friend, or your local copy shop and get it printed out. If, however, that option is not available to you, check the About the CPSL page for ordering instructions.
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