Online! The Book has a ton of good information including detailed instructions on downloading software and protecting your computer. It also has the latest on hardware, gaming, e-mail, spam, networking, modems, music, meeting people, web cams, blogging, creating a Web site, and Web programming languages. It even has facts on Internet marketing, content management, Internet law and taxation. The miscellaneous information in the book will be fascinating for some readers and superfluous fluff for others. For instance, there is a detailed explanation of why Charles Babbage is often called the father of computing. (I even learned that he hated music). The book also gives information like the history of shareware and those who originated the idea.

Online! The Book is a book for information junkies. If you are looking for specific information on anything Internet related, you will probably find it in this book. Yet, it is not really the type of book that you will keep by the computer as a reference. Rather, it is about as close as a technology book can get to a book to be read sitting in front of a fireplace or curled up in a soft chair. It is a meandering technological saga.

While the information is divided into 28 succinct chapters, it is often rambling. The authors try, unsuccessfully, to lighten the technical information with touches of humor such as pictures of John Dvorak wearing a silly hat. The book doesn’t really need that type of humor since the tips, sidelines, and highlight boxes do a good job of breaking up any monotony.

Online!’s biggest flaw is that it is over ambitious in the amount of information that it presents. The book is being pitched as a guide for newbies. John Dvorak himself told me that my AARP audience was the target audience for the book. John, Chris, and Wendy certainly put a lot of basic information into Online! The Book. Yet, this book goes well beyond being a simplistic guide to getting started on the Internet. There is plenty of information for intermediate and even advanced users. Thanks to a Chris Pirillo tip, I even learned something I didn’t know – how to save a Flash animation found on the Internet. Yet this and other information of this type is something that a newbie won’t understand and/or care about. Since the book does not differentiate between basic and advanced information, the reader will have to wade through everything picking up bits and pieces of information here and there.

This is not necessarily bad, people, like myself, who like to slowly peruse through facts and figures will be thrilled by the depth and breath of information in this book. Those who want specific information geared to their individual level of expertise will probably find it much too unfocused to meet their needs. The authors have put a lot of energy and information into this book. If you love technology, and enjoy a good fact-finding book, then this one’s for you!

Book Author:  John Dvorak, Chris Pirillo, Wendy

Publisher:  Prentiss Hall

ISBN#:  0131423630