I look at 3DWriter as a writing tool to be used in ANY class at ANY grade level, and preferably in EVERY class at EVERY level, ANYWHERE, ANY TIME. How much would that cost for Word? Think of it the way you think of pencils, pads, note paper, and other tools for practicing, drafting, an polishing writing. For $249 a school can put it on EVERY computer and send it home with EVERY student and teacher. That's less than a parent would have to invest in a single copy of Word and puts 3DWriter in the same price range as expendable pencil and paper tools. Even if you are committed to Word, isn’t it worth the $249 to be able to send it home with students?  They can always bring it into school and use Word there. As I point out elsewhere on the site, The National Assessment for Educational Progress tells us that only 23% of high school students nationwide display proficiency in writing, and only 1% have advanced writing skills. They go on to say that all that is needed to raise those scores is to increase the writing that takes place across the curriculum. 3DWriter is a tool that allows that by extending the writing across the curriculum, and into the home. The most recent Ameritech study shows that nationally, students have more connectivity and better bandwidth at home than they do in schools. Having a SINGLE tool that is ubiquitously available is not something that is likely to happen with Word. Word was created to make money for Microsoft. 3DWriter was created to make a difference in education. If it makes money for me, that is so much the better. I have no objections to that. <grin> Using Word or Netscape Composer is something that I have had success with, but seven years of working with other teachers has taught me that most other teachers do not have the same success. I can cite a number of reasons, but the primary reason teacher tear their hair out is the tendency of all hypertext editors (particularly Word) when creating a link to another document, to make links that include the hard drive paths. The projects work fine when they are being developed, but the second they are moved to another location, whether it be on the same computer or posted to the web, they don't work. This is a problem I specifically addressed in the design of 3DWriter. As long as all files for a project reside in the same folder, it is impossible to make a link that doesn't function when it is moved to another location. With this done, importing 3DWriting projects into other tools such as DreamWeaver or FrontPage, will preserve the links and allow you to use the powerful tools more productively I am hardly alone in my vision of simple tools that EVERYONE can use. The reaction of teachers who have downloaded the software so far is one indication. Take this quote, for example. "I just downloaded the program (member of the edtech listserv) and I just wanted to write and tell you what a great product you have here. This is -exactly- what I've been looking for as far as simplicity goes, so that my students can do web based projects and write web pages. I'm a biology teacher, and I can't really justify spending days to teach them dreamweaver or other editors, but this is perfect, they can just type it like they do any other document, and the buttons are intuitive. Bravo, now I just have to talk admin into buying me a site license." I wrote to Doug Johnson, a well known library media specialist and he pointed me to an article he wrote about the need for software such as 3DWriter. http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/joy.html David Thornburg’s September commentary at the PBS site points the need for simple software that does one job as opposed to bloatware that does everything. His PBS column can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/thornburg/index.shtm Finally, anything that is created with 3DWriter can easily be imported into Word, DreamWeaver, or any other heavy duty tool for web publishing. Even for Web Publishing classes which I taught when I was in the classroom, I would use 3DWriter as a drafting tool to keep the focus on content. Only after the content is acceptable should students turn to presentation. I used to have the following on the back wall of my Web Publishing classroom. "Web pages should be food for the mind, not just cotton candy for the eyes!"