旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � � � VENDINFO -- What's in It for the USER? � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 The end-user of shareware products will see a number of benefits from the VENDINFO system. Some of these benefits are indirect -- resulting from improvements in the industry as a whole -- and some are directly visible to the users. o The use of a single, consistent structure for information about shareware and public-domain products will make it much easier for users to find specific information about a given product. o The human-readable front text in the VENDINFO.DIZ file will provide the user a quick summary of the nature of the product, as well as contact information for technical support and for ordering. This information can be viewed using ordinary text viewers, including BBS in-zip viewers. o The free VendView viewer (March 1994) will provide easy access to much more information about each product in a convenient, menu-driven manner. This information includes such things as detailed descriptions; required platform; prices and registration benefits; contact information for both technical support and ordering, and much more. o The VENDINFO record actually SAVES space in the distribution package, because it's almost always smaller than the VENDOR.DOC, SYSOP.DOC, READ_ME.DOC, and other files it replaces. Thus, average user costs for downloads will be slightly reduced. o Users will have increased confidence that they're receiving products in the form intended by the authors. Both the tools in the hands of the distributors and the free viewer in the hands of the user will be able to test for changes to the package, and whether or not those changes are allowed by the author. Packages with missing pieces will at the very least be automatically detectable, and should even begin to disappear from distribution channels. The end-user viewer will also be able to report whether or not a particular package allows distribution by a particular channel. o Automation of major portions of BBS and, especially, vendor package handling will reduce distributor costs significantly. This can make the entire industry more efficient, enabling users to obtain products more economically, and enabling smaller, perhaps specialized, distributors to conduct business profitably. The result will be greater user access to products, at lower cost. o It is anticipated that the VENDINFO Product Registry will eventually allow users, for a small fee, to do on-line searches for products satisfying quite detailed needs, including type, platform, cost, and many of the other criteria contained in the VENDINFO record.