Customer Reviews

Great Age Guide to Better Living Through Technology

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I just started reading this book and I can't put it down. I thought I knew a thing or two about computers, technology and the Internet already, but there is so much more. And I'm finding a lot of it here in this book. I just don't know how to find the time to play with all the new suggestions and ideas in here for me, and the whole family. I look forward to reading the other books in the series when they are released. Keep them coming.

This book gave me the courage to finally purchase a digital camera/printer setup. Sandy gives you step-by-step insructions in PLAIN ENGLISH, no computer-ese. And just when you have a question, Sandy answers it -- she speaks our language (the Boomers!).

Berger talks in plain language, to demystify the use of various technical items. She writes for a still large crowd that is new to much of this. Naturally, the bulk of the book explains how to use the Web. She shows some of the myriad resources available, from geneology to sharing photo images.

For searching, she describes the main search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. For Google, she gives a sidebar on how the word derives from 'googol'. But, like so many other texts, it does not analyse this further. 'Google' is also a pun on 'goggle', where that means to look at something and gape. (Goggles are spectacles, in a related meaning.) Why is it that so many writers can't go beyond Google's official explanation of its name? The name is actually quite ingenious, and more so than just their explanation.

Anyway, on other topics, the book spends time showing how to use music, as in buying it online. Or in subscribing to satellite radio, say. Plus, she brings to your attention various sites that hobbyists might frequent, for such activities as scrapbooking and geocaching.

All too often we look at the subject of technology as a complicated topic outside of our normal scope of activity. Sandy Berger shows how technology is meaningful and relavant to our daily lives. Suddenly the term technology has become a user friendly topic. this book has helped me discover ways to make my life more interesting and has made me more comfortable with computers and technology.