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ANSWERS for DUMMIES like me- Windows Vista Questions You Are Afraid To Ask!
Date of Review: Jan 8, 2009
The Bottom Line: The KEY to secrets Windows Vista writers thought you already knew. Contains an INDEX using simple words people use. (Adding a printer? Look up printer, adding)
Windows Vista for Dummies
Wiley Publishing Company
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
2007 - 5th Printing ISBN-13 978-0-471-75421-3 Soft Cover, 408 Pages of Answers
If you don't know the keyword the index designers used in your software product, you probably will not find it. The printed page, as exemplified in the INDEX of this book is superior to a single short subject line. The Human Eye can scan a whole page at a time, dozens of ideas leap off the pages. Some operator manuals and help menus are on-line only. Both of these are superior to the small single enter and search templates for the same reasons. If you fear a snobbish putdown when asking a simple question, then
THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!
I miss those “MASTERING SOMETHING” books, 2 Inches Thick, filled from cover to cover with tips about how to make a product deliver what the creators claimed. The ubiquitous “Dummies” series serves the purpose these days. Why do we need them? Because of the built-in “Help” menu found in many hardware and software packages. Those books were useful, albeit, massive, heavy and costly.
THE PROBLEM
-----My beef is this: The wizards who assemble the “HELP” Index, say, for Windows Vista, know how to do everything, so they are not objective and never think to ask questions. It is beyond the mind of the nerd community to learn how users ask questions. Not WHY, mind you – the minimal instructions assure that nobody who needs an answer can find the question. It is a matter of nomenclature. For example, trying to register your copy of Vista is an unforgettable experience. It is a multi-step procedure written to reassure the king of paranoia that nobody is stealing a program. In my case, I called India for help; they had not tried the procedure themselves so it was gruesome. The person finally had to override everything and got me “legal” manually.
Where, for example, can one find out how to change the background color of this document? The answer is usually not there on the premise that everybody already knows that or, nobody would want to do that in the first place; besides, we think you should not even ask. So Don't Ask. Or Don't try to find out. Stupid!
ENTER THE AFTER-MARKET PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
(for dummies only)
The team of authors must be hooman beans; no robot would ever use a title like this:
“Part 1: Windows Vista Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know”
This is a well-stated philosophical problem that breeds condescension and weird responses such as:
“Ah, we see that your problem with finding not
parts in stock is that there are no parts in stock.”
Here are the Prerequisites implied:
“You need a refresher on Windows Vista basics and buzzwords like dragging and dropping, cutting and pasting, and tugging at vanishing toolbars.”
This is a rocky start; the word refresher presumes you already knew about these things:
What is Windows Vista and Why Are You Using It?
New Internet Explorer version
New Media Player and Media Center
DVD Burning
Calendar
Easier file search (than XP)
Vista looks prettier
Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera
----- ----- -----
SO, WHAT IS REALLY NEW?
(Why buy this book?)
The answer is on page 391; a radical thing called
-------- Index --------
Examples of dumb questions I thought of:
(translated from GeekSpeak to English (American).
What the devil is a WAP?
What does “Browse” mean?
Why does a computer need a window?
What is a Desktop? How do I Double Click it?
Envelopes – Yeah! That's always a challenge.
Do you know what 'Double-clicking' is?
What is the difference between e-mail and Windows Mail?
Do I have to zip my Files?
Why do I need Guests?
I need Help. Can you help me?
What is Important music?
What is Junk?
Do I need a Keyboard?
What is a Link?
How does a Microwave Oven fit into computing?
If I make a Movie, can I Make someone watch it?
I found a router on the floor. Don't Networks use these things?
Does fast Ethernet let me fall asleep quicker than regular Ethernet?
What is an operating system?
Are Pictures different from Photos?
Quick Lunch with tools?
Are pictures subject to Rule of thirds?
Does Search mean look for something?
Toolbar?
Themes. Are these helpful?
Undo – is there a DO command?
Vestal Versions. Is this smut?
What is a Window?
If X=Speed, does Y=Yes?
Have You Zipped files lately?
I wondered how long it would take for you to get down here. The lesson is useful, someone assumed that a user might be intuitive (Inanimate objects cannot be intuitive.) The INDEX is jammed full of HINTS that might trigger a memory of something one has forgotten, Virtually any of the 26 letters in our alphabet can act as a trigger. Most often, sub-topics appear that can remind the user of what was wanted in the first place. Otherwise, the user might have to ask someone..... ugh! I use it whenever I hear the call: "I can't make this ~~~~~~~ machine hold a margin ....!
EPILOG
What is a Personal Computer, anyway? Applying the “KISS” principle, it is a typewriter attached to an adding machine. It is a communications machine like a Bell Telephone. If your immortal thoughts need to be preserved for some manager or archaeologist; it can be done. Claims of efficiency have been made but I still want to know how it was that Enron Management knew that exactly 10,000 people had to be laid off to save the company when the boom was finally lowered. Why did so many take their work home?
(Those WERE laptops weren't they?
No? Cameras that were meant to LOOK like laptops? Oh!)
I still want to know why memory media (Hi Speed Tape Drives) used 15 years ago cannot be read today. What use is an archive that cannot be accessed? And why, if PC's save paper, why do we go through reams trying to prove it?
