BKINCMPL.RVW   990204

"Internet Complete", Sybex, 1998, 0-7821-2409-7, U$19.99/C$28.95
%A   Sybex
%C   1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1998
%G   0-7821-2409-7
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$19.99/C$28.95 510-523-8233 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373
%P   1022 p.
%T   "Internet Complete"

A rather daunting title to try to live up to, thousand pages or no
thousand pages.  In fact, this book is a kind of sampler, but of other
Sybex books, kind of like a "compilation" album of various bands and
singers.  If you look at the "Contents at a Glance" (there is a
second, more detailed table of contents running to seventeen pages)
you will note that each chapter is taken from another book.  (One is
reminded of the old line from a Tom Lehrer song that "Index I stole
from old Vladivostok telephone directory.")

Part one presents the basics of the Internet.  Chapter one talks about
the history of the net, although the authors obviously misunderstand a
number of aspects.  (As one example, the statement is made that the
Internet was developed specifically for UNIX, when it would be more
accurate to say that, because those who did most of the work in
producing software for the Internet worked with UNIX computers, any
particular application tended to appear for that platform first.)  In
addition, the later parts of the chapter show one of the failings of
this type of book: several points are rather out of date by now.  The
connection advice given in chapter two is oddly inconsistent in the
currency of its material (it discusses Windows 98 but the fastest
modems mentioned are 33.6K) and short on details (when it gets to the
important stuff, it tells you to go ask your service provider for
information).  General facts are somewhat misleading and most of the
text concentrates on the minutiae of specific programs when we get to
email in chapter three.  The common advice is better in the advanced
email topics in chapter four, but hugely overshadowed by the general
details.

Part two turns to Web browsing.  Chapter five's introduction presents
very brief mentions of a number of Web topics, but misses a great many
as well.  Netscape Navigator is demonstrated reasonably well in
chapter six, and Internet Explorer even better in seven (although IE
security info is very weak).  Web searching is handled well in chapter
eight.  It seems odd to find the subjects lumped under the Web, but
chapters nine through eleven do a middling job of describing news,
channels (applicable almost exclusively to Win98), and other Internet
applications.

Part three at first appears to have little relevance to the Internet,
being specific to America Online.  Searching (twelve), and chat
(fifteen) do have some general content.

Part four looks at creating your own Web page.  The introduction to
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is pretty good, although you can tell
that the authors aren't really familiar with it (the "end paragraph"
tag is almost universally "assumed" and the syntax for the fairly
straightforward name tag isn't given).  Planning advice in seventeen
is short but sound, whereas the design suggestions in eighteen tend to
the fancy, if not fanciful.  Nineteen rehashes HTML while twenty runs
through the options on Microsoft's FrontPage.

It's hard to see what part five's look at hardware has to do with the
net.  The chapter on modems might, except that the level of detail is
too sparse to allow the average user to succeed in setting one up. 
Buying, memory, and maintenance all have helpful tips (although they
all miss points, too).  The chapter on browser add-ons hardly counts
as hardware, and I can't fathom why it wasn't put in with the browser
stuff.

Part six has three appendices.  The first is a command reference for
Win98, again, hardly relevant to the net.  The Internet dictionary
does seem to have a preponderance of Internet terms, although it is
hard to understand the benefit of having specific local ISPs (Internet
Service Providers) listed by name, plus a heavy dose of UNIX.  (The
entry for "virus" is predictably bad.)  The HTML reference is heavy on
tables of colours and symbols, but fails to provide syntax examples
for tags and attributes.

As with many books with multiple authors a mix of good and bad.  Maybe
not the greatest advertising sample Sybex could have fielded.  A
relative bargain in terms of cost per pound, but, because of the poor
quality of some important areas, new users would probably be better
off with much smaller books such as "Zen and the Art of the Internet"
(cf. BKZENINT.RVW) or "The Internet Book" (cf. BKINTBOK.RVW).

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKINCMPL.RVW   990204