Review of Online! The Book (Paperback)

The Internet doesn't come with a manual, but if it did, this is it. This sounds like an exaggeration, but it is not because the book literally covers almost everything for people at all levels computer literacy.

That sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? I agree, yet Dvorak, Pirillo, and Taylor have pulled it off. The book has almost 700 pages of rock solid content in 28 chapters covering hardware, music, meeting people, gaming, networking, email, and more.

Though I read as much as I can about technology since getting my first computer in 1980, the book has material that cover areas I know less about such as enterprise instant messaging and peer-to-peer communication.

The topics are tackled at the 30-foot level and the 30,000-foot level. For example, we know emails are those messages that fill up our mailboxes with some in the ugly disguise of spam. The email chapter has contents on its history, protocols, clients, spam (of course), header analysis, filtering, and etiquette.

Protocols, header analysis, and filtering are uncomfortable terms for some people. Techie words and concepts are clearly explained without leaving the reader scratching his head and re-reading the paragraph until his eyes cross. Most of the technical terms and tips are in a gray box, so if you don't want to deal with it you skip over the visual cue. Tips are also in little boxes with a photo of Pirillo running into a window (again) or Dvorak in his Hulk Hogan wanna-be garb.

Business folk benefit from chapters on commuting, Internet marketing, content management, business Web sites, Internet law, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The Ten-Step Commute chapter takes a trip into the world of teleworking with advice on how to sell it to the boss, setting up remote access, and security.

This is not the heavy, boring textbook students lug around campus. The authors throw in their senses of humor throughout the manual. You could find the stuff in the book (where else?) online, but it takes many searches and hours to find the gold nuggets. Take a break and let the book do its job.

Believe it or not, I didn't notice the sub-title of the book when I wrote the first paragraph. When I got the book, I went right inside the cover. Online! The Book lives up to its sub-title, "Because the Internet does not come with a manual."

P.S. I take book reviews seriously. Some of you may know I write for Chris Pirillo's Lockergnome.com. If I didn't like the book, you wouldn't be reading this. No, he didn't pay me to say this. In fact, he doesn't know I've read the book and wrote a review.

Product Description
More people than ever before are using the Internet, and are using it more often for more purposes. Yet there has not been a new general-interest book on the Internet for a long time. John Dvorak, one of the most well-known authors on computers, and Chris Pirillo, one of TechTV's most popular hosts, have written a book which will appeal to all internet users, no matter what their level of expertise. Online! covers everything an Internet user needs to know, from hardware to security, from mobile access to spam filters, from blogging to setting up your own Web site. No matter how long you have been online, you will find this book to be an indispensable companion.

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