It was written by Andrew Fluegelman in late 1982,[1] and helped created shareware's sales and marketing methodology.
Fluegelman also encouraged users to make copies for friends, and provided a batch file to do so.
PC-Talk III was sold for $35 instead of being distributed for free; The Headlands Press offered a $25 discount to those who had previously donated.
Both the user-modified version of the program and the CompuServe distribution point were officially sanctioned by Fluegelman and The Headlands Press, holders of the copyright for PC-TALK.
Members of HAL-PC also produced custom versions that supported videotex and IBM 3101 emulation.