Newton's Telecom Dictionary: The Authoritative Resource for Telecommunications, Networking, the Internet and Information Technology (18th Edition) [Paperback]

Harry Newton (Author), Ray Horak (Author)

Book Description

Series: Newton's Telecom Dictionary | Publication Date: March 2002

Communications traffic worldwide is growing rapidly -- wired and wireless. Data and voice traffic on the Internet is doubling every 100 days. There will be one billion people on line by 2005. The demand is coming from everywhere -- ecommerce, video, employee collaboration, etc. Even after the huge growth in Internet usage in the last few years, more people are actually talking on cell phone networks than are surfing the Internet. The nature of ubiquitous communications has created the "virtual" corporation, with mobile employees carrying laptops, cellphones and pagers. This has led to a huge growth in virtual private networks, fueling more demand. Newton's Telecom Dictionary has long been required reading for anyone involved in the telecommunications, networking, and Internet industry. It is more essential today than ever before because of the revolutionary changes that continue to unfold. There are many new standards, new technologies and new vendor-specific terms. This book is for everyone trying to keep up with the new technologies and terms being created everyday. Terms are explained in easy to understand definitions and mini essays, sprinkled with Newton's dry wit. This book thoroughly defines terms in an accessible and non-technical manner, using as extensive or as brief an explanation as necessary for each term.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

20th Edition --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Harry Newton has 31 years studying, writing, lecturing and investing in telecommunications. He founded LAN (now Network), Teleconnect, Call Center and Computer Telephony magazines. He also founded the enormously successful trade shows Computer Telephony Conference and Exposition (CT Expo) and Call Center Demo. Newton has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and an economics degree from the University of Sydney, Australia.

He is not an engineer. He wrote this dictionary to learn enough to be dangerous in front of engineers. That, he says, is the ultimate thrill. Newton explains complex technology in non-technical business language even he can understand. He believes (perhaps naively) that anyone in business should be able to understand complex technical terms -- whatever it takes. As a result, some of his definitions are short. Some are long. He strives to be 100% explanatory and 100% practical -- explaining what the technology means, what it does, what its benefits are and what its pitfalls are.

Most dictionaries are updated every 10 years. Not this one. Newton and his staff update the dictionary every day and issue a new expanded, updated edition every year. This one is current as of early 2002.

Product Details

• Paperback: 859 pages
• Publisher: Project Management Institute; 18th edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578201047
• ISBN-13: 978-1578201044
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,436,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply The Best, September 8, 2002

By 

William Hefner "William Van Hefner" (EUREKA, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Newton's Telecom Dictionary: The Authoritative Resource for Telecommunications, Networking, the Internet and Information Technology (18th Edition) (Paperback)

I'm not sure what more can be said in praise of Harry Newton's Telecom Dictionary, but I'll try.

This oversized book is a whopping 859 pages. I don't want to even guess at what it weighs in at. It really is more of a telecom encyclopedia than a dictionary, and goes into extensive detail describing many words, phrases, acronyms and concepts. Many of the definitions take up an entire page, or more. It is absolutely crammed with useful information.

As if being the largest telecom dictionary isn't enough, Harry packs the book with his own style of telecom humor and wit. It's probably the only dictionary you will find that will make you laugh out loud. Harry is the premiere comedian of the telecom industry, and provides the only dictionary in the world that you will be tempted to read from cover to cover. Harry's writing style is uniquely his, and actually makes learning boring telecom definitions a fun experience.

Besides general telecom definitions, you will also find many terms relating to computers, computer telephony, the Internet, investing, electronics and more. An amazing accomplishment. You will not only understand what a word means when you read the definition, but will likely understand the concept behind it as well. This book goes well beyond the definitions provided in any other dictionary of its type. No other dictionary in the telecom, computing or electronics industries comes anywhere close to Harry Newton's Telecom Dictionary in either scope or depth.

The book is currently in its 18th edition, and is still going strong. It has three brand-new sections: 119 Best Money-Saving Tips: How to Save on Telecom, PC and Internet Expenses, Hot and New in Telecom: Best Ideas, Products and Industry Directions, and Disaster Planning: How to Maximize the Reliability of Your Telecom Network. This book truly belongs on the bookshelf of everyone in the telecom industry. It's worth every penny, and is pound-for-pound the best telecom book I have ever read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for People Dealing with Telecom, April 19, 2002

By 

Jasmine T. Baer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newton's Telecom Dictionary: The Authoritative Resource for Telecommunications, Networking, the Internet and Information Technology (18th Edition) (Paperback)

Harry Newton is now on the 18th Edition of his renowned dictionary. Having worked in the telecommunications industry for 4 years, I can vouch for how valuable this reference has been for me.

Newton covers all the acronyms, standard terms, slang, etc. that anyone would ever be exposed to in the telecommunications world. These are not just standard definitions. Newton goes in depth for those terms that require extensive explanation. The definition for "Frame Relay" is approximately a page and a half. Even more impressive, you come away with a solid, basic understanding of Frame Relay.

What separates Newton's from other efforts is the extensive nature of the work, and the humorous approach to writing many of the definitions. For example, Newton's definition for "Intelligent Phone" starts off with "When the Bell operating companies get bored they occasionally fantasize about applications for the networks they provide." Believe me, if you have ever had to work with a Bell operating company (Southwestern Bell, Bell South, etc.) you'll get a lot of laughs from this kind of stuff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful reference guide!!!, January 20, 2003

By 

L Narducci (Fruita, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newton's Telecom Dictionary: The Authoritative Resource for Telecommunications, Networking, the Internet and Information Technology (18th Edition) (Paperback)

From the first time that I refered to this dictionary a couple of years ago until now I have found it to be most informative and amusing. Newton's Telecom Dictionary is one of my most used reference works while studying for a Telecommunications degree. Studying for hours on end can be somewhat tiresome yet, I can always count on Newton to add a chuckle to a given moment, thank you. I look forward the the next edition.