Is This Thing On?: A Late Bloomer's Computer Handbook

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
"Stokes gives the feeling that a friend is explaining it all to you."
— The New York Daily News

Is This Thing On? is a reassuring, jargon-free, and totally straightforward nuts-and-bolts guide that introduces late bloomers, grandparents, technophobes, and the digitally challenged to all the wonders of using a computer, and will even have them using digital cameras and PDAs with ease.

Written for the reader who did not grow up with personal computers, this book updates and expands on Stokes's previous title, It's Never Too Late to Love a Computer. It covers everything you need to get wired: how to select, buy, and set up a computer; how to sign up for e-mail and internet access, and how to use the world wide web. There's information on peripherals—printers, scanners, wireless routers—and basic software, such as word processing programs. Plus, this new edition delves further into the online world to cover search engines and web navigation, information on online banking, shopping, travel planning, and dating. It covers security issues, "netiquette," instant messaging, and blogs, and there's an entire chapter devoted to digital photos—transferring them from camera to computer and sending them as attachments. Abby Stokes—who has a gift for taking the terrified by the hand and teaching old dogs new tricks—branches out into other essential digital accoutrements: cell phones, iPods, and Blackberries. A companion website, www.abbyandme.com, offers a safe place to practice and keep learning. Appendices include recommended websites, a resource list, and more.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Could be used as lesson plans by a teacher of computer basics and the Internet. Simple for some, but for others it's not simple! October 4, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I loved this book! It's not exactly one that I picked up because I needed to learn about computer basics, going digital, and playing/working on the Internet. But I thought it was well written, well outlined, and definitely on target for people over age 50 who are hands-off when it comes to personal computers. The book claims to have 25 chapters in 378 pages. However, I view it more like nine chapters with 25 sub-chapters interspersed therein as follows:

1. There is nothing to fear but technology itself (1-3)
2. Where will it sleep and how often do I neeed to water it? (4-5)
3. Go for a test drive (6-8)
4. Let the shopping begin (9)
5. Baby's first day home (10-12)
6. The newlywed game (13-15
7. Welcome to the neighborhood (16-20)
8. Exploration and discovery (21-23)
9. Make new friends and keep old (24-25)

About 10 years ago I took it upon myself to teach my mother how to use a PC. She was a high school librarian at the time, and it was a natural thing for her to learn in order to help her with her work. The lessons taught in this wonderful book are the same ones I went through with my mom ten years ago. And then two years later I was the lead instructor in teaching my grandmother (my mom's mom) how to use a PC to surf the Net, and most importantly get/send emails to/from my mom and my cousins. My mom was the teaching assistant who helped my grandmother pick up on computers. And the two of us used the same lessons taught in this book to teach my grandmother.

In this book you will learn (if you want to) how to: (1) shop for a PC, (2) set up your PC when you get it home, (3) sign up for Internet access, (4) use your PC and the Internet, (5) use a printer with your PC, (6) use email, (7) surf the Internet like a Pro, and much more.

The author has been teaching what she has included in this book for the past 10 years. And it is the same approach she used to teach her mother how to become computer literate. As far as I know, the system described in this book has been successful when applied to at least three seniors. And I know of no failures. If you are a senior and you have a desire to learn about computers and the Internet, then I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. 5 stars!

5 out of 5 stars

Great Book for Computer Novices November 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I saw this book at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver and couldn't put it down. I love the cover and everything in it.

Abby Stokes puts everything in plain english, with good screen shots, so that any novice can learn how to use a computer.

Good job, Abby! I highly recommend this book.

Mitch Paioff, Author, Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

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