Are you the only dinosaur left who hasn't been on the Web yet? Or maybe you're sick and tired of people raving about the Internet while you sit and nod knowingly, but without the slightest clue what they are ranting about. If you have decided it's time to surf before you get alienated, but only have coffee breaks and short lunches to learn how to surf the Web, The Internet for Busy People can give you a crash course in surfing lingo. The best way to learn how to surf is to dive in and get immersed in interfacing with the new environment. The Internet for Busy People does exactly that by using rich colourful pages that give you great screen shots of what you will see while browsing the Internet. As most individuals are more receptive to graphics inclined than text, the book's familiar and myriad screen shots shortens the learning curve, much like a computer flight simulation assists a pilot in flight training. Besides great screen shots, call-out diagrams that point out how to fill out a web page form help overcome the form-filling paranoia that many of us have. For instance, what should you put in the domain box and, for that matter, what the heck is TCP/IP or SMTP Besides helping you overcome such nightmares, The Internet for Busy People does a great job in easing the rookie surfer into Netspeak and the lingo of the Internet surfer. As you get more proficient with simple e-mail protocol, Crumlish grooms you for bigger and better things on the Internet like File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and researching using Gopher to access remote libraries. But my favourite aspect of The Internet for Busy People is the expert dialogue box that peppers the book with wise words from the pros. In so doing, Crumlish actually treats you like an intelligent, albeit busy person that doesn't need to be coddled with simplistic information. Even for a seasoned surfer, I picked up some new tricks and got some questions answered from the expert advice dialogue boxes. I've always found that writing style and tone of voice in any computer publication is the make-or-break factor in my enjoyment of a book. It's easy to accumulate knowledge, but to share it in a non-condescending manner that doesn't put the reader off. Crumlish makes reading The Internet for Busy People like hearing from a friend enthusiastic about teaching you the ways of the Web. The Internet for busy People is surprisingly affordable considering that every page is chock-full of colour graphics and illustrations. Basically, it's like browsing the Internet before you actually go on-line - a dry run, so to speak.
