Time to Get Practical
Paul Hilts -- 2/28/00
This spring, computer books cover real world issues, not just how-to
A funny thing happened to computer books this year--they started to become practical. Perhaps as many as 15% of all titles submitted for our listing this spring (by far more than there was room to include) were not about how to use computers, but how to use computers to "do something useful."
Business problems from the "real world" (as it's called in biz school) are one target for these new kinds of books. For instance, Adams Media's June release Streetwise, by Roger Parker, describes why marketing on the Internet is different, and why successful companies will need to adjust their plans to accommodate the Web.
Amacom, publishing arm of the American Management Association, has several of these practical titles. E-Profit by Peter Chan, due in April, describes how to incorporate e-commerce into a traditional corporation's plans. May's A Guide to Software Package Evaluation and Selection by Nathan Hollander helps businesspeople at the most critical time of all: when they have to decide which product will actually do what they need, before they spend money on it.
Que's Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Investing by Douglas Gerlach (April) explains day-trading and where to find Internet investment sites. Jossey-Bass should attract attention with its e-commerce title Clicks and Mortar. David Pottruck, president of the investment brokerage Charles Schwab, invented the term "clicks and mortar" to describe companies that use both traditional and e-commerce business methods. In his book, Pottruck explains how companies must combine personal passion with technology to build high-growth organizations.
Book That Should Have Been in the Box
Of course, the original variety of computer book, the software instruction manual, has been evolving as well. As software becomes more complex, the packages come with less and less "documentation"--instruction manuals to explain all the program's functions.
David Pogue, best known for his Macintosh titles for IDG Books' Dummies imprint, has decided to fix that. Pogue has created "The Book That Should Have Been in the Box"--the Missing Manuals series for his newly formed joint venture with O'Reilly & Associates, Pogue Press.
"Just about every major software company has stopped making user guides," Pogue told PW recently. "They sell you a $300 software program, and expect you to learn it using the online help. Why do they do that? Printing a book costs the software company $1 or $2 per package, which really adds up. And when the programmers finish writing the software, the company wants to ship it! They want the income stream to begin."
For less than $20, each Missing Manual will offer a menu-by-menu description of every command; a real-world user's perspective, describing what the software is actually used for; and work-arounds for flaws and weaknesses in the programs.
Pogue feels that this last is a big advantage for users of Missing Manuals. Even when software includes official vendor-supplied manuals, they often glide past "bug" and weak or missing functions without a mention.
To help promote his new imprint, Pogue conducted a humorous "Missing Interview" that appears on O'Reilly's and Pogue's Web sites, and is drawing positive attention. Readers can find it at missingmanual.com/pogue_interview.html.
The first book in the series is Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual, due in March, written by Pogue. Other volumes to follow this year will cover AppleWorks 6, due in May, by Jim Elferdink; Windows 2000 Pro by Sharon Crawford, to be released in August; iMovie, for May, also by Pogue; and Windows Millennium, by Kathy Ivens, due in September.
Now CBT Isn't Just Business, It's Personal
While computer manuals got practical this year, Computer-Based Training, or CBT, got downright personal. Self-paced courses to learn software have been around for a long time, but now the Coriolis Group has added live action: interactive, Web-based chat rooms and live "Ask the Expert" sessions, as well as simulated adaptive testing--tests that get smarter as users do.
Keith Weiskamp, Coriolis's co-founder, is excited about what PTS portends for all education. "The Personal Trainer extends the idea of a browser. It was never an educational tool before. And it really makes computer-based training and distance learning useful. The user isn't isolated, but can talk with other students and experts about his progress, and what he understands and what he still needs to work on."
Each Personal Trainer System includes the standard textbook and has a CD-ROM that carries the entire text of the book, along with a link to Coriolis's online experts, tutors who will work with students to get past difficult sections. The interactive software tags the sections of the book the student is reading, so tutors can follow along, and suggest other readings. Users can also make personal notes or "cram sheets," to jog their memories or link ideas in the text. And if they're unsure of an answer, clicking "Hint" will open the text to the relevant section.
The first Personal Trainer Systems will be out in the first quarter of 2000, and will cost $69.99. Titles will include NT Server 4, Networking Essentials, NT Workstation 4 and A+.
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