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The Internet: The Missing Manual

By David Pogue, J.D. Biersdorfer
July 2006
Pages: 460
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-52742-X | ISBN 13: 9780596527426
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)

Book description

The Internet is synonymous with change--that's one of its charms, and one of its headaches. You think you know the Internet, but are you really up to speed on internet telephony, movie and TV downloading, multiplayer games, online banking and dating, and photosharing? This utterly current book covers getting online, searching/finding information, downloading and sharing movies, music, and photos, and the latest ways to keep in touch.
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Featured customer reviews

The idea of what the internet is capable of bringing to you!,  January 04 2007
Submitted by Tanya Boudreau   [Respond | View]

You can turn to your computer and the internet for everything. Reach for your mouse and keyboard to find up-to-the-minute news. Download or buy what you want in music, movies, or television. Try your hand at writing; create your own blog (an online diary), add photographs, and post your blog online for family and friends to read. Save time and money and do your banking, shopping, and travel planning online. Meet new people worldwide, through gaming websites or on dating sites. Stay in touch regularly through email, chatting, and internet phone calls.

This book will give you an idea of what the internet is capable of bringing to you, and what is on the internet today. The book guides you through, starting with the various ways to get online. For example, a broadband connection is the faster, but more expensive way to get online. Dial-up is the slower, but least expensive way to go. Pros and cons are listed whenever choices and options are presented. Windows and Macintosh computer systems are referred to throughout the book too. There are numerous tips, notes, diagrams and pictures inside the book. The pictures provide readers with visual examples of previous discussions. The tips and notes are helpful in making the internet experience easier to understand and maneuver. For example, one tip refers to free antivirus programs for Windows, and another tip involves erasing cookies from your computer. Some tips list fun and interesting websites. A great movie trailers page is listed in one tip. As stated in the introduction of the book, “the primary discussions are written for advanced-beginner or intermediate computer users”. In addition, the authors have provided grey boxes labeled “/Up To/ /Speed/”, which are helpful for the new learner, and boxes labeled “/Power Users’ Clinic/”, which will be of interest to the advanced users. The boxes “/Word To The Wise/”, “/Gem In The Rough/”, “/Workaround Workshop/” supply insightful information for everyone as well. The information in this book will help you learn to surf the web effectively, how to set up your browser, how to search engines and directories, and how to find many great websites. (The medical websites, and fact/reference websites presented are fantastic.) If the sites are not free, or a subscription is required, this is noted as well.

This is a handy book to have by your computer. And a good book to have if you need clarification about the internet. Explanations are straightforward, and easy to follow and understand, especially when diagrams and pictures are shown. The authors have taken the confusion and fear out of the internet. The knowledge contained in this book will give you confidence to use the internet to its fullest potential- and in a safe and smart way! Some other Missing Manual titles include: Flash 8: The Missing Manual, Google: The Missing Manual (2nd edition), Creating Websites: The Missing Manual, and eBay: The Missing Manual. The author J.D. Biersdorfer, who writes a weekly column in the Circuits section of the New York Times, is the author of iPods & iTunes: The Missing Manual. David Pogue, who writes a technology column for the New York Times, is the creator of the Missing Manual series.




Another Well Done O'Reilly Book,  August 28 2006
Submitted by Hawkeeg   [Respond | View]

Back in the 90s, the Whole Internet was the book to read to learn about the Internet. Sadly, that book has gone out of print. But this book (the latest in the Missing Manual series) essentially picks up where that book left off. And while this may indeed be a book more suited to beginning (yes Virginia, there still are folk who aren't on the Internet) and intermediate users, there's still enough information here that even long time Internet users like myself can learn something new. In my case, it was learning about podcasts, RSS feeds, more about VOIP, and online backup and storage sites. The Internet has gotten so big and spawned so many different technologies over the past fifteen years alone, that it can be a big challenge to keep up with the constant changes. All of them are documented in this book. It gives a general look at all things not just with the topics I mention here, but also topics like searching and surfing the web, blogs, web sites that list peer reviews (sorta like this review!), shopping online, games, music, videos, communicating with others online (whether it's chat rooms, mailing lists, or "community sites"), even ways of staying safe and secure online.

There are countless books available about the Internet and its many forms, but this is a great book to have if you need a well-written all purpose book about the 'Net.

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Media reviews
"Everyone who uses a computer knows about the Internet: but how many know how to search with an eye to uncovering winners and avoiding junk? Learn how to use the Internet tools the pros use – and the ways they use them – with THE INERNET: THE MISSING MANUAL. Chapters cover everything from locating movies and music download sites to social networking and Internet telephony. All options are surveyed including common traps and tricks for overcoming them. A ‘must' for any who use the Internet regularly."
-- , Midwest Book review


"...I feel that [this book] has a lot of useful information. This is the first non-technical (meaning it will appeal to non-Geeks!), largely platform agnostic manual on the Internet that I have come across, and frankly, I find it at least as - if not more so - interesting to read as a depiction of our current society than as a technical work. My copy is another one of those books that I know will get passed on from friend to friend, and hopefully each one will get something useful out of it. If you do get a copy for yourself, don't then be disappointed if the same thing happens to yours - it's one of those books that demands to be shared. Personally I'd love to see a copy of it on the shelves of every school library, and it wouldn't do any harm if our public library system followed suit."
-- George Carrington, ACT Apple User Group Inc., Austrailia


"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
-- Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post



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"This is the first non-technical (meaning it will appeal to non-Geeks!), largely platform agnostic manual on the Internet that I have come across, and frankly, I find it at least as - if not more so - interesting to read as a depiction of our current society than as a technical work."
--George Carrington, ACT Apple User Group Inc., Austrailia