Customer Reviews

TechTV Leo Laporte's 2003 Technology Almanac

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

Being a fan of Leo Laporte on Tech TV for a couple of years now, I just had to go out and buy his book. This is the follow-up to the 2002 Technology Almanac, and what a great follow-up it is. It's clearly evident how much more work was put into this book, as there are is a lot more substance. For one, every day now is now dedicated one full page, full of tips and tricks. There is also a very extensive table of contents in the front, so it shouldn't be too hard to find something you're looking for right away. Also, Laura Burstein corroborated with Leo for writing this book; she has included important dates in computer/geek history all throughout. Finally, one more thing that I liked was a very extensive appendix with computer statistics. Maybe it's just because I love statistics, but I found some of the information fascinating.

All in all, if you are interested at all in computers, this is a great book to buy. It may not be best suited for the über-geeky, but for beginning or intermediate users, it is great. Leo writes with a very down-to-earth personality that does not treat as you as brainless computer user.

"Poor Leo's 2002 Computer Almanac" was awesome, but I can't believe how much better the "2003 Technology Almanac" is. Whatever platforms you use, you're going to find lots of tips and tricks to make it work better for you, plus you get such other goodies as reviews of the latest tech toys, tech history, and contributions from other TechTV personalities.

But first and foremost, it's just plain fun to read. And you're learning at the same time.

This book was awesome for both the expert and novice computer user.
I bought this book for my husband who is a major computer geek, and my 73 year old father who knows little or nothing about computers. Both loved the book as I did.

Not only was it full of computer info, but tidbits of technology that you always thought about, but no one quite knew.

Leo Laporte's 2003 Technology Almanac is a great book for people who want to get more from their computer and just don't know how to go about it. Maybe you've heard of a way to put your CD's onto an MP3 player and put hundreds of songs at your finger tips, but you don't know how to actually do it. This book is for you!

Or maybe you will get (or give) a digital camera this holiday season, and perhaps after you've taken the pictures you realize you'd like to email them to your friends, but you don't really know how to do that. This book covers all the fun things in technology and computers that you want to do, but need just a little help getting started. It isn't that hard to do, and Leo makes it all easy to learn by following the Downloads of the Day or the tips that are on each day of the almanac's pages.

(The only thing that I didn't like in this book was the inclusion of the "Twisted Lists" from The Screen Savers TV show, they seemed very silly and out of place, but maybe this brand of humor is your cup of tea.)

I've spent quality time with Leo Laporte's 2003 Technology Almanac and I must say it is one fine publication. I'm a librarian and I have to pass judgment on whether to buy or not to buy hundreds of books each year. I can't help myself; I always look at a book like this with a critical librarian's eyes even if I'm buying it for myself. Do you know how awful it is to have a book that is chock-full of wonderful information rendered completely useless because the aforementioned information can not be easily accessed? Believe me there are more of those than there are ones, like this, that is well arranged so you can get at the info you're looking for quickly and easily. This has an excellent Index (I love indexes!), Glossary (a great addition and a very good one too), Facts and Figures Section (nice touch) and Leo's Little Black Book (very useful). Each page is easy on the eyes and flows nicely. Over all just a nice, nice job!

There are three things I've found computer books to be in the past, complicated, boring and useless for my needs. None of those things can be said about this book. Not only is the information on how to do things like online security, wireless networking, and troubleshooting easy to understand, it goes one step further and makes you understand why you need to know some of these things. It never overwhelms you, it makes you feel you can do these things and with Leo Laporte's sense of humor shining through it makes it entertaining too. How many times has a computer book made me laugh? Cry maybe, when I become so frustrated I toss it across the room but laugh, never until now! Computers are complicated and frustrating enough, why can't computer books have fun to break up that frustration while they are teaching you? I've found the best way to learn is to have fun and this is one entertainingly, informative book. If there is a question in anyone's mind as to whether to buy this book I can highly recommend it from a personal and a librarian's point of view.

This book is for anyone who's interested in computers, the internet, and technology, for work or play, and who enjoys straightforward content written with humor (see the cover) from the perspective of many years of experience. It's written for you, whether you're a neophyte or an old hand, whether you're using Windows, Mac, or *nix. There's plenty in it for any user and, as much fun and as informative as the 2002 almanac was, the 2003 edition is even better.

The content is extensive, relevant, varied, and refreshingly easy to read. The best additions/improvements over last year's, in my opinion, are the exhaustive index, killer glossary, and a really neat section of charts, graphs, trends, and stats, about computers, the web, technology, and how we use it all in real life. Every single day of the year has its own page with explanations, downloads, tips, and historical notes, and it has nearly 200 more pages in appendices, making it a true almanac.

Part of my job involves helping people understand computers and the web, and this book has already paid for itself with answers and inspiration (in fact, now I have one at home and one at work, both bristling with post-it page markers). Information in it has saved the day for me personally on more than one occasion, and has made me look good to co-workers and others more than once as well...and who can't use that!

Whether you're looking for a gift for a computer user or something for your own enrichment and enjoyment, this book is right on target. It's instructive, fun, and a terrific value.

I read the reviews people had left, some were not flattering. I wish I was as smart as those people who already know everything. If I buy a book and learn one thing, I am happy. This book is filled with info and tips that I did not know. I stayed up all night trying out new things I learned in the book. If you can't learn from this book, well you should write your own. Easy to read AND easy to understand. Filled with little tid bits of great time saving tips. Thanks for making my work on the personal confuser a lot easier.

These (the 2002 and 2003 versions) are not exactly beginner books. They aren't exactly geek books either. Leo Laporte has pulled off the rather amazing feat of writing books enjoyable by just about any level of computer user.

My wife and I are a good example of that. I don't make claims to great geekdom, but I'm more than competent around computers. My wife, however, is just a casual user - email and the web mystified her until very recently. Her primary computer use is just word processing, which she certainly became proficient at, but she has little knowledge ( or interest ) in much else concerning her computer.

I had picked up these books because Leo hawks them incessantly (but not objectionally) on Tech TV. If you don't get Tech TV where you are, it's a cable station devoted entirely to technology - it's geek tv. Leo is one of the hosts of The Screen Savers, a 90 minute show that I watch very frequently. Somewhat surprisingly, my wife often watches it with me and, even more surprisingly, she actually admits to enjoying it.

Well, maybe it's not all that surprising. The show is fast paced, has a lot of energy, and the hosts and staff are very upbeat, often funny, and do an excellent job of explaining technology in interesting and enlightening ways. A "technology is fun" attitude permeates the show.

That same playful attitude is found throughout these books, and I was scanning through the 2002 version while my wife was reading something else. These are books you can just flip open and read because there's no real organization; just tips and facts scattered about in Almanac style. I was enjoying these thoroughly, and I had read a few little tid-bits aloud for my wife. Then I came across a half dozen Microsoft Word tips, so I handed that volume to my wife and picked up the other. After a bit of reading I started to feel tired, so I put it down and told her I was ready for bed. "Go ahead, I'll be right up", she said.

Yeah, right. About an hour later I got up and found her looking through the 2003 volume. That's the first time in 35 years I've found her looking at one of my computer books. But, there's simply a lot of good stuff here that will interest anyone who uses a computer.

At this writing, Amazon had a combo deal where you could buy both books for a good price. Check it out; I think you will enjoy these.

Everyone in my family and all of my friends enjoyed reading this book, including myself. I consider myself a pretty advanced user and I got a lot out of this book. That's not to say it was an advanced read -- my friends who don't know much about computing also found a lot of stuff in it that they could use themselves. I commend Leo for writing yet another excellent book, and I can't wait for the next one!

This is the followup to Poor Leo's 2002 Almanac and is sure to be a hit for those of you are just getting to know your personal confuser as Mr. Laporte calls it. It's not a really geeky book, but has many good tips in it. The organization is similar to last year's book, a tip for every day of the year. The first two weeks cover how to make your computer secure, well worth the price of the book.