The question we're most frequently asked is, "How can I access the Internet using the HP Palmtop?" Do we have an answer for you! The short answer is use a shareware program called Net-Tamer. The long answer is our ten-page cover story.
Jesper Siig, an HP Palmtop Paper reader in Copenhagen who works as an Internet Consultant for Digital Equipment Corporation, volunteered to write the story. His task was to provide a complete, comprehensive answer to the Palmtop and the Net question. As HP Palmtop Paper editors Richard Hall and Tom Gibson found out, providing an answer in a readable and useful format was not simple.
Surfing the net has evolved in the past several years. Users with Windows' machines can use Netscape or a similar browser. Setup, although not painless, is not difficult and there are many knowledgeable people who can help. Unfortunately, you really have to understand more of what is going on in the background to start browsing and using other Internet services with the Palmtop.
The Palmtop and the Net article is organized around five common Net functions: E-mail, browse, participate in discussion groups (newsgroups), download files (FTP), and log on to other computers (Telnet). If you study the article, not only will you learn about palmtop tools, you will gain a better understanding of what the Internet is and its benefits.
In keeping with the theme of the issue Mark Scardina has completely revised and updated an article about CompuServe that ran several years ago. Using a CompuServe thread, Linda Worthington contributed an article and poem. Linda chronicles the most unusual places users have used their Palmtop from the bathtub to the mountaintop.
Spreadsheet users will appreciate Carl Merkle's advanced discussion of 1-2-3 database techniques. Victor Roberts describes how to increase the chances of recovery of a lost Palmtop. Finally, in my User to User column you are encouraged to meet key HP people, fellow HP Palmtop users, HP Palmtop Paper advertisers, and me, and attend the August Anaheim, California HP Handheld conference. I also mention our new book, PC in your Pocket, edited by Ed Keefe. The book overviews the HP Palmtop drawing from the best of past pages of The HP Palmtop Paper. It is intended for both Palmtop users and for your interested friends and colleagues.