VDINTRVL.RVW   960917
 
"The Internet Revealed", Gregory Giagnocavo/Tim McLain, 1995,
0-932577-24-5/-23-7/-22-9/-10-5, U$150.00
%A   Gregory Giagnocavo
%A   Tim McLain
%C   1866 Colonial Village Lane, PO Box 10488, Landcaster, PA   17605-0488
%D   1995
%G   0-932577-24-5/-23-7/-22-9/-10-5
%I   Wentworth Worldwide Media
%O   U$150.00 800-638-1639 fax 717-393-5752 success@wentworth.com
%P   3 hr (approx.)
%T   "The Internet Revealed"
 
A video tape, by its nature, has difficulty in conveying the accuracy and
detail of information that a book can.  A video is also not suited to reference
type material.  A video is good for a presentation of highly graphical (but not
highly resolved) material and the inclusion of audio content.  Popular theory
states that video is good for highly motivating, though perhaps superficial,
introductory courses.
 
Tape one is the usual gee whiz ad for the Internet.  Tape two give a brief
introduction to email (using Eudora).  Tape three looks at some search tools. 
Tape four shows you how to point the pointer at an underlined word in blue
until it changes to a hand and then click.  It also gives you a fairly good
introduction to Netscape and, if you are using Netscape, the second half of
tape four may be the most useful part of the package.
 
It's hard to review a video tape curled up in a corner, so my wife saw a good
bit of this.  Her response was that it was very boring, and she didn't know how
I stayed awake through the whole four tapes.
 
I can't really argue with that.  The presentation is the standard talking head
and screen shots.  The screen shots, of course, lose a lot in clarity and
readability.  The organization fo the material could be a lot better, with many
functions being described before you get to the reason you might want to use
them, and some others being required before there is an explanation of how to
use them.  The content is highly system, and even program, specific, which is
particularly unfortunate in the tape on search tools.  In an effort to add some
pizazz to the presentation, there are annoying special effects, such as silly
themes and threads, cartoon characters that bounce onto the screen and
definitions that race in from the side and (literally) screech to a halt.  And,
although there are some few handy tips that are seldom covered in the run of
Internet books, the material is superficial.
 
So popular theory is partly right, after all.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996   VDINTRVL.RVW   960917

====================== 
roberts@decus.ca             rslade@vcn.bc.ca             rslade@absolute.com
           I have seen progress in an egg.  It's called "going bad."
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)