Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/book.reviews/instant.internet-heslop

Text File | 1995-01-05 | 4KB | 79 lines

From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "The Instant Internet Guide" by Heslop/Angell
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 12:10:00 MDT


BKINSINT.RVW  940324

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, [e-mail]
P.O. Box 520  26 Prince Andrew Place
Don Mills, Ontario   M3C 2T8
416-447-5101   fax: [phone]
or
Tiffany Moore, Publicity  [e-mail]
Bob Donegon  [e-mail]
John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing [e-mail]
Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division  [e-mail]
Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series [e-mail]
1 Jacob Way
Reading, MA   01867-9984
800-822-6339  617-944-3700
Fax: [phone]
5851 Guion Road
Indianapolis, IN   46254
800-447-2226
"The Instant Internet Guide", Heslop/Angell, 1994, 0-201-62707-8,
U$14.95/C$18.95
[e-mail] [e-mail]


This is an easy, step-by-step, keystroke-by-keystroke, guide that will
get you onto the Internet instantly -- providing you are using (1) a
dial-up UNIX based Internet provider; (2) pine; and, (3) tin.  (It
also helps if you already know your way around a modem, but let's not
quibble.)

With few exceptions, the content is readable and aimed at the newcomer
getting onto the net.  There is never any overload with technical
details, but it would be hard to say that any basic information is
missing.  Certain simplifications may lead to misconceptions.  The
phrase, "logging on to the Internet," is used to refer to logging on
to the access provider or host.  The concept of the Internet as a
multi-faceted entity, rather than a single entity, can be important to
activities such as telnet, gopher and World Wide Web.

Chapters two and three give an introduction to pine and tin.  They
also introduce email and Usenet news.  For those who are using only
pine and tin, this presents no problems, but for those, probably a
majority, who are using mail agents and news readers other than pine
or tin, the general concepts are interwoven with the program
specifics.  This is not to say that the chapters are useless if you
are using other programs.  The material is clearly presented and
logical.  This one major flaw is perhaps the result of relying on
experience from only a single system, and it is too bad it degrades
from what is otherwise a generally logical and "friendly"
presentation.  Two minor oddities are the discussing of mail lists
under news, rather than mail, and the lack of any discussion of
finding email addresses either in chapter two or chapter six (which
covers search tools).

Chapter four is perhaps more telnet than beginners really need, with
an odd digression into IRC.  Chapter five is a very solid presentation
of ftp, including the various types of archiving and compression
programs, but silent on unencode.  Most of the general searching and
resource tools, such as archie, gopher, WAIS and World Wide Web are
logically grouped in chapter six.  Chapter seven is "UNIX in About an
Hour."  It may take a bit longer than that if you want to try things
out, but the basics are there, and the placement in the book is
appropriate.  There is one appendix giving contact info for (again,
mostly US) Internet service providers.

With the noted exceptions, the book is well put together and tightly
crafted.  One senses, however, a lack of feeling for the Internet
which pervades, say, a "Zen (BKZENINT.RVW) or "Whole Internet"
(BKKROL.RVW).  This is a professional book, greatly useful to some,
potentially more useful to a number of others if the system
specificity can be corrected.