ISBN:0789714035Amazon.com
Rather than providing a quick update to his second edition of Using the Internet, Honeycutt has responded to the rapid changes online with a total rewrite and the addition of new material. He has deleted a lot of how-to information on software and functions that are no longer popular or relevant to the daily life of most users. Instead he emphasizes many elements of the Internet that the average user, especially a beginner, is most likely to use. Honeycutt combines that with coverage of emerging Internet capabilities, which explains why his book has grown from about 300 pages to almost 700.
As in previous editions, Using the Internet starts out with a short history of the Net and how it works, although the old section on "netiquette" no longer follows and is sorely missed. Honeycutt then explains how to connect to the Net using the major online services or an independent Internet service provider (ISP). He focuses on Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator as he discusses browsing the Web, using e-mail, participating in mailing lists and newsgroups, downloading files, using real-time chat, and more. But he doesn't overlook the popular and useful add-on and client programs that make online life easier.
Honeycutt helps you apply what you've learned by showing you how to perform Web searches, participate in multiplayer games, use push technology to your advantage, and easily put your own home page on the World Wide Web. The search section is particularly informative and should be helpful to Net novices. The book concludes with two no-nonsense (and opinionated) chapters on Net security for yourself and for your children. Appendices include lists of ISPs.
The book includes information on how to use what Honeycutt calls the more "obscure" capabilities, such as FTP, Gopher, and WAIS. While most users will never need these utilities, it's good that Honeycutt recognizes that they can be lifesavers if you depend on the Net for research. Even in its expanded form, this is not a comprehensive guide to the Net--the section on Web-page creation gives you only a taste of what is possible--but it remains a good way for beginners to get their feet wet without feeling overloaded with information. --Elizabeth Lewis/p>
Reviews From AMAZON.COM
The best book about the Internet I've seen
I recommend this book to every my friend and to all people in book stores, when I see that they're searching for a book about the Internet. Excellent and clear language; very good guide to the Internet for beginners and advanced users, and it will be good for professional too. I discovered the Internet with this book on my table and I'm happy with that. I recommend it to everyone, especially for people who are new in the Internet and want to study it fast and effectively.
Great for beginners.
Good book for newbies. I had to buy it for a class at Univ. of Phoenix. About 90% of it is beneath me but I would have liked it when I first started out.