Rating: 
Summary: The Gold Standard for computer learning books
Review: As a typical instruction-manual-phobic kinda guy, this is a delight. The real clincher is the well-presented DVD tutorial, so I can sit back and learn on "autopilot". ... This is the sort of guide that Apple should be shipping with every Mac. ...
Rating:
Summary: The Macintosh iLife
Review: Excellent resource for iLife. I'd been playing with iLife for months. This book, and it's well-done accompanying DVD, revealed the 70% of iLife I hadn't figured out. Concise, comprehensive. Ties iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD together very well. Best supporting tech resource I've ever used. Also, a strong selling point for iLife and iMacs.
Rating:
Summary: Like looking over the shoulder of an expert!
Review: Having amassed shelves full of software/hardware "How To" books over the years, this is one of the best learning resources I've ever purchased. The book alone, with its full-color graphics, approachable style, and thorough examination of each iLife component as well as how to use them in real-world applications, is great. But, add the DVD to the mix and it was like having the author sitting next to me to answer the questions I couldn't quite figure out with the book alone. Having a visual guide working in conjunction with the written word is a great new twist. This book/DVD combo takes a simple and very visual approach to learning, in true keeping with the Macintosh style. Personally, I found it refreshing not to have to face down an 800-page tome in order to learn the essentials to start working effectively with my new software.
Rating:
Summary: The Path through the Forest
Review: I agree totally with "A Reader" from Portland. I sat and watched the DVD totally amazed at the elegant simplicity of the Mac iLife group of apps. And the clarity with which Jim Heid builds one on the next. To me that was the revelation - he breaks it down and demystifies how they work together, which after all is the point! This isn't about Art or Technique: it's about using them; the Apps, your camera(s) and your computer. He shows you can do it. I just bought my first mini DV camera on the strength of his demonstration. The DVD is "chaptered" within each app's section as he goes through the steps and you can refer to the text as well. Great stuff for beginners to intermediates like me.
Rating:
Summary: Best computer book value ever - no, really!
Review: I have bought many computer books (20 in the past year due to switching to a different computer system) and this is the hands-down best value ever. The DVD alone is easily worth what Amazon charges for this book - there is nothing quite like watching someone actually doing the work to teach you how it is done. The book itself is very clearly written, and colorful and highly informative to boot. I bought some books that covered only one of the iapps previously, and found this book was at least as informative as those books - and it covers all four iapps! I have loaned it to friends and recommended it to several others, and they have all raved. In addition, the author has posted a free update on his website covering itunes 4 - so the most up-to-date book (as of now, July 1 2003) is even MORE up to date.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the beginner! Good for the expert!
Review: I have decided to review "The Macintosh iLife" by Jim Heid
in addition to the iMovie 3 Visual QuickStart Guide. This book, also distributed through Peach Pit Press, takes a more visual approach to teaching you how to use
iMovie 3 (along with the iPod, iTunes 3, iDVD 2, and iPhoto 2). When I
say visual I don't really mean pictures in the book. The book includes
a feature-length DVD (broken up into digestible parts) literally
showing you how to do the things that are written in the book. Heid is a quality presenter both in writing and demonstration. It'd be
VERY difficult to watch this DVD and not learn how to do some pretty
sophisticated things. The pace of the DVD is well-suited to the novice
user, but not tedious for those with experience. The book on it own is
a decent reference for each of the products covered, but used as a
follow-up reference to having watched the DVD, it is a powerful
instrument making it easy to recall what you've seen without having to
actually load the DVD back into a player. While Heid's book focuses more on the most-commonly used features, it
makes up for any gap (say, between it and the iMovie 3 VQSG) by
covering the whole suite of iLife programs rather than just one. Even
if you have the new version of iLife '04 (like I do), you can still
benefit from this book because the material in it is geared toward
utilizing functions that will exist in the new versions too. Even if
the interface has changed a little, I did not find that it was
difficult to follow anything that Heid demonstrated. Unless he
specifically updates this book (and DVD) to match iLife '04, I can do
no less than highly recommend it to all iLife users.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the beginner! Good for the expert!
Review: I have decided to review "The Macintosh iLife" by Jim Heid
in addition to the iMovie 3 Visual QuickStart Guide. This book, also distributed through Peach Pit Press, takes a more visual approach to teaching you how to use
iMovie 3 (along with the iPod, iTunes 3, iDVD 2, and iPhoto 2). When I
say visual I don't really mean pictures in the book. The book includes
a feature-length DVD (broken up into digestible parts) literally
showing you how to do the things that are written in the book. Heid is a quality presenter both in writing and demonstration. It'd be
VERY difficult to watch this DVD and not learn how to do some pretty
sophisticated things. The pace of the DVD is well-suited to the novice
user, but not tedious for those with experience. The book on it own is
a decent reference for each of the products covered, but used as a
follow-up reference to having watched the DVD, it is a powerful
instrument making it easy to recall what you've seen without having to
actually load the DVD back into a player. While Heid's book focuses more on the most-commonly used features, it
makes up for any gap (say, between it and the iMovie 3 VQSG) by
covering the whole suite of iLife programs rather than just one. Even
if you have the new version of iLife '04 (like I do), you can still
benefit from this book because the material in it is geared toward
utilizing functions that will exist in the new versions too. Even if
the interface has changed a little, I did not find that it was
difficult to follow anything that Heid demonstrated. Unless he
specifically updates this book (and DVD) to match iLife '04, I can do
no less than highly recommend it to all iLife users.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, informative, and not just for the novice!
Review: I've been using Macintoshes since 1984, and am usually an "early adopter" of new software as it's released. Before reading this book and watching the DVD video, I'd already used all of the iLife applications and thought I knew how to use them, more or less. Well, I found out that I knew how to use them less, rather than more! Jim Heid's excellent book and video is great for the novice, but it also has plenty to teach the experienced user. In this age of "no printed manual" many of us just jump into an application and figure out how to use it. In doing so, we miss out on a lot of little tricks and capabilities that really save time, improve usability, and make using these great programs even more fun! Heid brings us up-to-speed while teaching all of these small, often undocumented features that really make using the applications even smoother and easier. This book/video combo is a great value and recommended for any Mac user who wants their computer to be the center of their "digital life."
Rating:
Summary: Well written, informative, and not just for the novice!
Review: I've been using Macintoshes since 1984, and am usually an "early adopter" of new software as it's released. Before reading this book and watching the DVD video, I'd already used all of the iLife applications and thought I knew how to use them, more or less. Well, I found out that I knew how to use them less, rather than more! Jim Heid's excellent book and video is great for the novice, but it also has plenty to teach the experienced user. In this age of "no printed manual" many of us just jump into an application and figure out how to use it. In doing so, we miss out on a lot of little tricks and capabilities that really save time, improve usability, and make using these great programs even more fun! Heid brings us up-to-speed while teaching all of these small, often undocumented features that really make using the applications even smoother and easier. This book/video combo is a great value and recommended for any Mac user who wants their computer to be the center of their "digital life."
Rating:
Summary: Well written, informative, and not just for the novice!
Review: I've been using Macintoshes since 1984, and am usually an "early adopter" of new software as it's released. Before reading this book and watching the DVD video, I'd already used all of the iLife applications and thought I knew how to use them, more or less. Well, I found out that I knew how to use them less, rather than more! Jim Heid's excellent book and video is great for the novice, but it also has plenty to teach the experienced user. In this age of "no printed manual" many of us just jump into an application and figure out how to use it. In doing so, we miss out on a lot of little tricks and capabilities that really save time, improve usability, and make using these great programs even more fun! Heid brings us up-to-speed while teaching all of these small, often undocumented features that really make using the applications even smoother and easier. This book/video combo is a great value and recommended for any Mac user who wants their computer to be the center of their "digital life."
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