How dumb do you want to be today? (Computing for Dummies)

Member Name: moistoist

Product:	Computing for Dummies
Date:	17/06/01 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very funny, VERY helpful, NOT technojargon...

Disadvantages: well...none really

“This book feels your pain and prescribes a chuckle”

When I started out in computers, all right they weren’t still using punch cards, but I had to build up a working knowledge of what was a rather complex subject. For example, learning the MS DOS language was something I never mastered, and it wasn’t that I was particularly dumb, rather just that I was not used to the idea of programming. Windows, in a nutshell, was a godsend…and because I had a working knowledge by then of computer architecture, I was able to easily understand the new interface. But to those poor people who have only just started out on the highway to hell that is the information superhighway, even the mention of a computer turns them weak at the knees. Like my mother. Unbeknownst to me she discovered this book, and went in the space of a month from a total illiteratus to using the computer without thinking about it. When I asked her how she had managed this, she handed me a hefty yellow book, not the Yellow Pages, but Windows 98 for dummies. So I thought I’d review it.

The ‘for dummies’ series (not to be confused with the ‘for idiots’ series which is merely a copy of the idea, and how successful a copy I don’t know), is from the pen of Andy Rathbone, a New York Times journalist who moved into computer journalism. His computer books have sold over 14 million copies. Lucky fellow! And reading the Windows 98 book, I soon found out why.

This one as an example is in 5 parts…

“BARE-BONES WINDOWS 98 STUFF (start here)” which begins on page 7
The first thing you’ll notice is the amusing cartoon on the first page of each part, drawn by Rich Tennant. Very funny.
This part deals with the basics in the most unpatronisingly simple way possible, whilst remaining witty, accurate and to the point. Boxes like “Disks do and doughnuts” and “Don’t read thisR
21; spattered throughout the easy to read text. Herein is described how to get started, open stuff, close stuff, write stuff, play with stuff, move stuff…you get the idea.
For example, the book describes Windows as the bread in a sandwich, nobody really minds that much so long as it’s there and the filling can go inside it. Analogies like this pepper the text with a personal and unpatronising vigour that really livens up even the most boring of details and processes.

60 pages and another cartoon later, and you get to…

“MAKING WINDOWS 98 DO SOMETHING”
Which is…revvin’ up Windows 98, more playing with stuff, saving stuff, printing stuff, and yet more playing with stuff.
There are throughout the book little icons next to certain passages which show whether that bit is a warning, useless technical stuff, tips, upgrade ideas…etc.etc. These allow you to scan the text very quickly for the info that you want. Plus they look amusing too. This is especially handy in this and the next two chapters, where the bulk of the info has wormed its way in.


Another 100 pages of side splitting laughter later, you’ll get to

“USING WINDOWS 98 APPLICATIONS (and surfing the web, should the mood strike)”
You’ve guessed it – more playing with stuff. This details using the desktop, shortcuts, the start menu, and the print manager. And the internet. Explained remarkably well, although in the book I read it’s probably a little out of date – so look for the new versions on www.dummies.com


Part 4 is extremely good, even a totally computer literate person would do well to read it…
“HELP!”
“Windows can do hundreds of tasks in dozens of ways, which means that approximately one million things can fail at any given time. And you complain when ONE thing fails!”
This part clearly details all the major prob
lems you might encounter, and how to solve them – in layman’s terms!
For example, all the common error messages are listed with a step by step and uncomplicated way to solve them, and more importantly, PREVENT them happening in the future. This approach also benefits hugely from Rathbone’s writing style, which is witty and easy to read.


And finally, if you have any sides left to split,
Part 5
“THE PART OF TENS”
Which is a list of windows features, all arranged into loads of top tens such as
“Ten aggravating things worth knowing how to sort out”
“Ten Exciting Windows 98 features worth checking out”
Mostly info just presented in a nutshell, but handy as a reference I find. My mother never read this section, I don’t think it’s too vital if you’re in a hurry to learn, but it’s helpful nonetheless.

There are also appendices on actually installing the software and a glossary which is extremely well written.


CONCLUSION

This is nothing short of fabulous, whether you are a computer boffin or a Luddite. The jokes are funny, the cartoons wry, the information helpful, and best of all, uncomplicated. It doesn’t look, feel, or read like a computer manual. It reads more like a cross between Bill Gates and Bill Bryson, both witty but also highly informative, and NEVER patronising. Windows 98 controls your computer, this book will allow you to control Windows 98. The technical terms ARE provided in case you want to find them out on the second time of reading, or to help the more experienced user discover something they didn’t know. No matter what your expertise though, you’ll be able to use a computer confidant in the knowledge that you won’t see smoke emerging from the computer, or for that matter your ears. By the end of 380 pages you will know everything you really need to know for everyday use. And you&#
8217;ll have a smile on your face. That’s worth every penny of the £15 asking price. And there are now numerous books in the series covering everything from Java to Windows 2000. Go buy.

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