Customer Reviews

The POCKET GUIDE TO THE INTERNET: NO-SWEAT GUIDE TO INFORMATION HIGHWAY

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What is the internet?
How and when did it begin?
Where does the network go?
Who originally thought of the concept?
Why is the internet useful and necessary?
Was Al Gore involved?

All these questions and more (minus the Al Gore one) are in The Pocket Guide To The Internet.

From ISPs to Packets, from AOL to telnet, and emoticons to netiquette, it's all present. There's a wealth of knowledge in every chapter, and the steps are slow enough for all. In fact, many of even the most novice users of the Internet will find much of the information mundane.

The book provides page after page of helpful information, providing a multitude of web addresses, acronyms, and definitions that, if anything, provid a sort of printed dictionary/encyclopedia about the internet.

This is a great resource for someone starting at ground zero with no knowledge whatsoever.

The "concept" of the Net is very important for the uninitiated. Your zeroing in on how the Internet should be viewed in the mind's eye is excellent. It's the idea or the "vision" of the over-all system as a "place" that is expanding its own boundaries in all directions gives your readers a sense of the sheer "enormity" of it all. And yet, all of it is reachable by a simple wire with a tiny, plastic push-in-and-click wall plug!! Marvelous. Robert M. Jackson, Jr.

I'm about half way through your book. In fact I'm on page 148 beginning Web Culture. I have found your book to be very informitive. Was very interested in the section on Gopher. Tried to get information on swollen joints, but reread and found that I needed to use WWW and Exite to pull it up. As I read your book I try the new reading out on my computer. Again thanks for the information.

Al Witte

I recently bought your paperback (The Pocket Guide to the I'Net) at the local Wal-Mart. Of course I was skeptical, since I've read or scanned through a dozen how-to books and intro-to books in my endeavours to learn better and train better.

But ... something about your style engaged me. So I bought the book. Halfway through it I think I know what it is I like about your text ... you're an Internet teacher who agrees with *me*! <grin>

I was talking with Wendy Green last week (literally talking, not virtually) and described my reaction to your book. She encouraged me to drop you a line. She says you lurk on the misc.writing newsgroup from time to time and she recognized your name. (What a high-traffic newsgroup!)

I webmaster for my company (www.ag.org) and am also responsible to train anybody in our midst how to understand and navigate the 'Net. For a good part of the last year I lectured to our local Internet users' group and now moonlight at a local cybercafe teaching Internet classes for paying customers. So, my plate is full and I'm happy to find material which so nicely augments my own presentations!

For a while I struggled with the relative worth of helping people understand this beast. Especially when they're *paying* to do so! After all, these people just want to know how to send email and 'surf the Web', why should I waste time talking about its military roots for goodness sake?

So, if for no other reason, I appreciate your book for the affirmation I've found there. Of course, I don't *always* agree with your presentation or your choice of wording, but then who agrees with *anybody* one hundred percent? I can't argue with the facts of your text, though, you have certainly done your research! (I only wish it was footnoted! <grin>) At heart I am a teacher and no matter what I do or where I'm at that's likely the role I've fallen into. From one teacher to another: you done good. (Of course, I'm sure you know that! The royalties should speak well enough!)

I bought your book 'Pocket Guide to the Internet' (Pocket Books) a couple of months back here in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and enjoyed it greatly. It was a great introduction to the Net. Thought provoking and nicely written. I continue to use it as a reference.