Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/book.reviews/pc.inet.tour.guide-fraase

Text File | 1995-01-05 | 4KB | 77 lines

Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 15:03:59 MDT
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "The PC Internet Tour Guide" by Fraase


BKPCINTG.RVW  940428

Ventana Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 2468
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
919/942-0220  FAX [phone]
[e-mail]  [e-mail]
"The PC Internet Tour Guide", Fraase, 1994, 1-56604-084-1, U$24.95
[e-mail]

Fraase's book is a real grab bag.  Written (on a Mac) by someone who
admits to having an aversion to MS-DOS, it really has little system
specificity other than the PC basis of the programs on the included
disk.  It has some good information, some excellent writing, some
gaps, some errors, some promises and a lot of graphics (of which the
author seems inordinately fond).

Overall, the discussion of Internet applications and use covers the
major topics, and gives the new user a reasonable understanding of the
basic tools.  The chapter on "Getting Connected" proposes a very
broadly based and helpfully divided overview of the various options.
It starts with talk of the university, government, and corporate
options, of which many potential users remain unaware.  The difference
between dedicated dial-up IP and dial-up terminal is raised, although
the promised discussion of dial-up terminal and commercial "email
gateway" access never seems to materialize.  The personal and
community aspects of the net get a lot of space.  Some important, but
often neglected, aspects of file characteristics and transfer are
raised, albeit briefly.  The "Neat Stuff" section really does have
some interesting and little known resources.

On the other hand, the quality of the information is very uneven.  The
setup of the included programs is said to be easy, but I suspect that
a very thorough familiarity with modems would be needed in view of the
extremely brief instructions for the SLIP software configuration.  The
"points of interest" are interesting, but seldom have anything to do
with the surrounding text.  (A pleasant exception to this are some of
the useful and helpful points in the email section.)  The directions
on how to use and access resources on the net are *not* going to be
helpful unless you are using the included software (and that type of
dial-up connection).  Every set of directions starts with UMSLIP, and
most use gopher, even where email or telnet would be faster and more
efficient.  There are a number of dated addresses, as well as some
that are just plain wrong (one suspects through bad editing).
Seasoned Internauts will be able to correct these errors, but then,
seasoned Internauts aren't likely to be using the book.  (Some of the
errors relate to DOS rather than the net: the LHA program, for
example, produces files with an .lzh extension rather than  .lha.  Again,
MS-DOS users familiar with BBSes are unlikely to have problems.)

At one seminar I was told to promote this book because it had
software.  The software included may be useful, depending upon the
user's level of access to the net, but is neither necessary nor
unique.  Providers that do handle IP access can also handle terminal
access, but many access providers cannot provide IP access at all.  In
any case, (as the book states almost every time UMSLIP is mentioned),
both UMSLIP and Minuet are shareware, and available online.  (It is
also interesting to note that the book acknowledges the superiority of
PPP to SLIP -- but provides SLIP.)  (In any case, I can't comment on
the program disk -- my review copy came without one.)

An interesting feature is the promise of an electronic update to the
guide, distributed via electronic mail.  The book has a coupon for two
of the quarterly updates free; regular price is $25 per year.  I'll
try to add a note to a later edition of this review.

For those who want to set up a direct IP connection quickly, (particularly
for residents of Minnesota,) this is probably your book.  The tools
are "real" TCP/IP programs, without the UUCP limitations of "The DOS
User's Guide to the Internet" (cf BKDOSINT.RVW).