Date: Fri, 09 Sep 1994 14:54:12 -0600 (MDT) From: "Rob Slade, Ed. DECrypt & ComNet, VARUG rep, 604-984-4067" Subject: "Insider's Guide to Personal Computing and Networking" by Segal BKGDPCNT.RVW 940531 Sams Publishing Prentice Hall Computer Publishing 11711 North College Carmel, IN 46032 "Insider's Guide to Personal Computing & Networking", Segal, 1992, 0-672-30180- 6, U$29.95/C$37.95 segal@cs.washington.edu rsegal@microsoft.com The very best thing about this book is that part of the proceeds go into Laubach Literacy programs. There is very little information on how the book was put together, but one suspects that letters were sent out to some of the major companies involved in the PC market, asking for articles for a book with the proceeds going to charity. News has been defined as information that somebody, somewhere, wants kept secret: everything else is advertising. I am reminded of that because this book seems like the leavings of a year's worth of a number of "freebie" computer magazines, after the news stories have been removed. What is left is a collection of editorials and "guest" pieces. You can basically forget any idea of insider information. This is long on opinion and very short on expert advice. I found only three of the fifty-two articles to have any worthwhile practical suggestions. (A fourth provided very much needed comic relief.) At times, the lack of any content gives rise to unintentionally funny pieces, such as the promo from Microsoft which pushes generic "mother-board-hood" ideas like "workgroup ... commitment," "open ... systems," and "superior vendor support." It ends with a disclaimer stating that this "technical overview" commits them to nothing, might not be accurate, and is not warranted. The pieces are generally quite short and, aside from having little content, some of them don't even have any proper paragraph structure. While the "guest list" is impressive, this collection displays the industry leaders as being a singularly uninspired, and uninspiring, lot. It's too bad that, for a worthy cause, they couldn't have found something better. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKGDPCNT.RVW 940531 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 BCVAXLUG ConVAXtion, Vancouver, BC, Oct. 13 & 14, 1994 contact vernc@decus.ca