Vindicate the Apple IIGS

[tuvac@aol.com (Tuvac)]

My aunt who uses BankStreet writer and other software on her IIGS wanted me to
get her e-mail capability on her IIGS.  She doesn't have the money to go out
and buy a new Mac or PC to surf the internet graphically and e-mail.  Since she
(and many other teachers) still use a II GS at school why should she use
something different at home?  I've bought a modem, the cable that connects the
external modem's serial port to the II GS's port so the hardware is all set (I
think). But I can't download terminal emulator software successfully from the
'net, nor do I know where I can buy some (I'm in the Hartford, CT area)  I've
tried to download Kermit for the IIGS and part of it is binscii'ed.  So, I
downloaded binscii.exe to a Mac that was connected to the net, copied it to an
Apple II (not Mac) formated floppy.  When I type 'cat' the IIGS reads the disk
and tells me binscii.exe is there but when I type 'exec binscii.exe' I get a
FILE TYPE MISMATCH error.  Under cat binscii.exe's type is $00 which I think is
wrong.  
1. What did I do wrong?  
2. Is there anyway I can download stuff to a PC and transfer it to her 3.5"
800K Apple IIGS floppy drive?  Some of my friends have Mac's on the net so I
could download to their Mac's if it's easier than using a PC.  I've searched
all over the net and found Apple II emulators and even played around with Apple
II Oasis but I can't figure out how to get files that are on an MS-DOS file
system to a Apple II disk image. I also have access to the Lynx OS on a PC if
that would help.
3. If no one can answer 1 & 2 or direct me to internet sites that help explain
this, does anyone have ready to run Apple IIGS software for sale that can make
use of the modem and dial up to an ISP for text-based internet and e-mail? BTW,
she has no Hard Drive and the floppy that loads her GUI (that's GS/OS I guess?)
is corrupt.
Any help is greatly appreciated.  My father, with his Pentium PC (and others
that do computer work with Macs in the same school system with all those
IIGSes), say that the Apple IIGS is "not even capable of getting on the
internet or using a modem" and that she should just throw it out.  Help me
vindicate the IIGS, I KNOW it is more than capable, I just haven't been!