Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Authorware Attain Tutorial: An Interactive Book and CD Package (Book & CD Pack)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Wow, what a pile of slop. There's so much inconsistency in the content, style, and methodology that it's practically unusable. I can't recommend this book for ANYONE--novices or experts, or anyone inbetween. It's a real stinker. It goes from 'slapped together' to totally incoherent, and back--several times. Examples are poorly laid out and explained, and much of the information seems laid out in a "look what WE know!" style (the old "baffle them with BS" routine), instead of a clearly-explained, well- written style. I know many people that frequent the AWARE list have come to blindly worship some of the contributors to this book, but this book will not enhance your opinion of these people. Not one shred. You'll read the book and think "Wow, *I* could have written something this bad", and "How could I have blindly bowed before these same folks on the AWARE list?"

While there might actually be an interesting nugget or two in the book, it's most DEFINITELY overpriced for its content. Read it only to realize these people are not the gods you think they are... or for a good laugh...or cry, as the case may be. It's THE most disappointing book I've had the misfortune of reading in years. It's unfortunate that I'm forced to give it even ONE star here, because it's a "0"-star book, at best.

It's... embarassingly bad. I could never justify taking money from people for something as poorly constructed an written as this book is.

This book patches together chapters by many authors. Some have done outstanding work, others appear to have thrown their stuff together with little attention to detail, readability, or even simple grammatical errors. I would pan the book completely except that the info in the good chapters is absolutely invaluable! Too bad to spend so much money for half of a great book. I got virtually no value out of the CD.

I think the title says it all but anyway here's an objective review in more detail. To begin with the book is very thin for the price...318 small sized pages.

The first 26 pages are just general considerations regarding computer based training...information that anyone requesting this book will know already...rip out these pages.

pages 28-64 contain information on scripting but it is incredibly basic to anyone with a background in IT and could be condensed into half the number of pages...still these pages are OK.

The next chapter on knowledge objects - pages 65-87 contain some useful info but only really gives you a smattering of what you were expecting. Also its very hard work following what they are saying...not enough diagrams...far too wordy...and many grammatical mistakes which are annoying...in fact the grammatical errors and typos apply right throughout the book.

Pages 89-231 contain peripheral information on things like activeX, CMI, packaging for the web etc. - by peripheral I mean none of it is about building the applications themselves...some of this info is useful (especially packaging for the web). However I bought this book hoping to become an authorware guru who could build complex authorware applications...so to that end these pages are not 100% relevant.

pages 233-318 are individual lessons on different aspects of authorware...these are useful but some of them are long-winded for what they are actually saying. Also some of them are sloppily written and require a lot of effort to follow what the guys are saying.

After reading the book from cover to cover I still feel a long way short of being an authorware guru.

I am now going to play around with authorware myself and try to work out how all the features work etc. I guess I'll have to snoop around a lot on newsgroups etc.

All in all very disappointing especially considering that some of the authors claim to be professional authorware instructors.

I would not advise anyone to buy this book. Keep your money or give it to charity but dont spend it on this book.

Don't be fooled by the title -- this is not the ultimate tutorial. You get very little instruction or practice developing actual projects that contain text, graphics, animations, interactions, branching, functions or variables. What you do get is a little information about a lot of different things that won't get you started producing effective training. Even the advanced topics on Knowledge Objects, database, and ActiveX will leave you frustrated and hungry for more information. I got more out of Nick Robert's The Official Guide to Authoware 4 and Orson Kellogg's Authorware 5 Attain Authorized, that together cost less than this book. After spending more that 80 bucks and 2 days studying its contents, I felt bamboozled.

As an experienced Authorware user, I am continually seeking advanced material for the my trade as an educational resource developer. This book is perhaps the worst written and ill logically conceived book since Guttenberg. My advice, save your money. Mr. Schifman and Mr. Gancy should be ashamed of them selves.

This book is getting bad reviews and it is understandable. There are several typos. Presentation is uneven. Yet some areas, such as an overview of processes involved in cbt development, how to make a Knowledge Object, troubleshooting shocked pieces, and scripting exercises are great. If one can design a good KO using this book, that alone can significantly cut down production cost. I just wish the book was priced better and was properly edited.

I bought this (quite expensive and surprisingly small) book thinking I would learn how to use Authorware. The book is definitely not for beginners. It assumes you already are a skilled Authorware user, and discusses mostly advanced topics. Since I have no Authorware skills, I cannot comment on how well it handles these advanced topics, but I have read other reviews by advanced readers and they were none too impressed also. It is hard to say what exactly is the target audience for the book.

This book is clearly an example of what happens when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. In this case it is many contributors leading to a confusing number of styles. It appears that the book was designed for entry level college courses not for the Authorware developer. What is needed for Authorware productivity is a book similar to Director Demystified by Jason Roberts and Phil Gross.

There have been so many changes in authorware that this book, while handy for it's time, is not a valid resource anymore. IT really lacks because of this, missing on some of the finer points of the newer authorware systems and abilities. Most of the high points of this book are moot now, expecially with the advent of Flash integration, the expanded Calculator Icon, and the higher movie integration.

I approached my evaluation from 2 levels; from a Beginner's point of view, and as an Experienced Developer/trainer, which is where I fall. In both cases, I found this book to give excellent information from evaluating a project all the way through the final stages of your project, tackling such topics as CMI, ODBC, Web based delivery, XTRA's, ActiveX, and More!. This book is not designed to do your project for you, its designed to show you how to think through the stages of Multimedia Development. Knowledge is power, and in this case, this book is very powerful. The examples on the CD that come with the book are outstanding. They show common problems then show you how to overcome them. I rate this book as one of the best I have seen for Multimedia Devlelopment. You CAN teach old dogs, new tricks.