Panther For Dummies

[kelly]

Don't know if it's as good as Pogue's Books.

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTit...0764541684.html

Some interesting information at their site.

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArt...le/id-1570.html

[Mayo]

Since Kelly isn't stumping too hard for the Dummies book, I'm going to add my two cents without fear of offending him and say that in my experience the Dummies computer books are a waste of money.  Yes, they do inject a little humor into the book, but the amount of real information for each dollar spent is minimal compared with Pogue's books.

Over the years I have done much of my computer self-education via books. I have read a fair number of titles from both the Dummies and Pogue and the typical Dummies book will have about 1/10 of the info contained in a Pogue book.  Plus Pogue is a better writer than most computer book authors, and the indexes are more detailed in his books than the Dummies line.

Considering that "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual (Panther Edition) is less expensive than the Dummies book, it's a no brainer for me...

I received a copy of Pogue's Panther book a few days ago, and, as usual, it meets all my expectations and more. And even though the Dummies books trade on their easy readability when covering complicated topics, Pogue generally does a much better job of explaining things.  You may read a Dummies book once and get something out of it, but a book from Pogue will likely become a reference that you will return to when faced with a problem.

The Dummies books were a cute idea at one time, but at least in the computer genre they are too little substance for too much money.

[swhitset]

Mayo,

Don't forget that Pogue wrote the original macs for Dummies series back in the days of Classic OS.

However, I agree with you presently.

Incidentally, I have The OS X missing manual by Pogue covering 10.1. I found it to be a very good manual/book  I am now using Panther.  Do you feel that there is enough new information in the Panther edition to warrant spending the money on the update?

Steve

[Mayo]

Hi Steve,

I thought that Pogue may have written something for the Dummies series, but I didn't remember which book.  Even though the "Macs for Dummies" book may have been the first computer book I ever read!  Thanks for reminding me.

I don't have a copy to refer to; mine went to the local library book sale eons ago. But I think that the basic format of all the Dummies books limits their value and usability when it comes to the topic of computers.  I have a "Wine For Dummies" book that doesn't suffer so much...

And while it would be unfair to paint all Dummies authors with the same brush, some are good and some aren't so good.  The Dummies corporate book template also tends to distill individual author voices into the trademarked Dummies style of writing.  

Pogue's writing has only gotten better over the years, and his voice is one that appeals to me personally. He has the ability to write engagingly about computers, a rare thing indeed.

I also have the 10.1 book.  I think that there are enough differences between 10.1 and 10.3 that $20.97 is a good investment to make.

And in case you missed my earlier post, I tried a basic system hack on my Pantherized iBook that I found in the 10.1 book and I nearly succeeded in locking-up my iBook so tight that I would have had to remove the harddrive to get control of it.  It turned out that some basic system underpinnings have changed between 10.1 and 10.3, and I found out the hard way about one of those changes.

I didn't think that there could be much difference between .1 and .3...  I'd say that little nugget of information is worth somewhat more than $20.97 to me, considering the time and sweat expended getting the iBook normal again.

Live and (hopefully...) Learn!