Rating: 
Summary: not your typical computer resouce book
Review: I believe Philip Greenspun has achieved his goal of creating the first ever "Coffee Table Computer Book" This book departs from my other computer related resources in that it entertains as well as educates. It is a fun book to read and covers a lot of important design techniques missed by other "technical" manuals. Just buy it, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: The author actually thinks even non-techies have brains!
Review: I am not a programmer, I'm a marketing manager. This is the first book I found that explains the technical issues underlying Web development in a non-technical way. But at the same time, it's written intelligently - for intelligent people. (Greenspun is not even afraid to explain SQL, the language behind databases.) I strongly recommend this book (especially the chapter on interfacing a database to the Web) if you're interested in knowing what has to be considered before you begin developing your site. For all you marketing people out there, buy a Web marketing book, but be sure to buy this.
Rating:
Summary: Actually, Alex Doesn't Have Much Advice
Review: If you bought Philip's last book, you, like I, were probably amazed at how much advice Philip gives. You thought, hey, how can his editor let him get away with all of this product-specific advice and all of these stories of projects gone bad? And you stayed up late at night reading the book, because the stories were just too good.You're in for a treat, because this book is just like the last one, only there are pictures. The same biting humor, the same battle-weary author, and this time the book has as many high-quality photographs as Philip's web site, not to mention new content. And the photos are as good as (if not better than) the high quality writing that Philip is famous for. Buy this book. Save yourself man-years of work, promote the use of photos instead of code listings to pad computer books, and stay tuned for the next one, SQL for Web Nerds.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, even for non-nerds
Review: I read this book because I love his website and wanted to know what is behind it. Although I am not (yet)in the web-publishing business I got a very good picture about how the web works. In case I never build a web-site myself, I have read a very funny and entertaining book.
Rating:
Summary: This is the web book I've always looked for!
Review: Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing is not the typical book on web authoring. It offers a fresh approach to "computer books," and is filled with a ton of very useful information. As you read this book you will start to see the web in a new way. I learned that the web is unique. It is unlike any medium before. A Lot of designers get hung-up on old ideas from print, TV, cd-roms, etc. This book will help you to break free from that type of thinking.
Rating:
Summary: A web for non-idiots book, writen by a non-idiot.
Review: I really wish there were more computer books written like this one. I'm not an idiot around computers and it is nice to see that someone is writing for the non-idiot population. This is not to say that one needs to be a computer super star to understand the book. While non-super-star readers may miss some of the super techincal stuff, the very important key priciples will not be lost. As a bonus the book has some really good social observation and commentary in it. All in all I enjoyed the fresh look at the web around me.
Rating:
Summary: Not just for techies
Review: I'd highly recommend this book for non-technical people who have to direct a web development project. I found it packed with useful insights. I'll feel more comfortable about voicing my opinions they next time a web developer tells me I need lots of graphics, lots of animation, and frames, frames, frames. I will tell him that visitors come to our site because they have questions, not because they are bored losers looking for entertainment - just one of the common-sense tidbits I picked up from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting food for thought
Review: Inspiring book with interesting perspectives about collaboration and web publishing. Furthermore illustration is excellent. Thanks to Phil and his web publishing experience, we were able to deliver an effective KM solution to our client within minimal time.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite as good as the first one
Review: Back in 1997 I found Greenspun's first book "Database Backed Web Sites" by accident. It has been the most refreshing computer book ever. Now the "new book" is available, and I am sorry to say that it is not as good as expected. What is wrong with this book, then? First, it contains tons of pictures, some well scanned, some so badly scanned that any publisher would turn bright red immediately. There are no captions, which leads many readers to the assumption, that the images are not connected to the text. (Funnily, this is wrong. The images do illustrate the text, just not in an obvious way.) This shows that Greenspun knows everything about Web-Publishing and nothing about print. Second, the book still does not contain a CD-ROM. So you will have to trust his promise that his site photo.net will always be available and free for all. I have yet to find a Web site that could stick to such promises. Okay, maybe I am overly sceptical here. Third, this book is rather an "update" to the old book than a completely new one. If you know the old book, you will have many "deja vues" while reading it. This makes reading uneffective as you still have to read the whole text in order to get to the new content. It should not be dismissed that the new book is still better than average, hence the 4 star rating. Many concepts are put into the clearest possible words. This helps managers as well as engineers to understand why their sites do not work. He throws stones at Microsoft and many Middleware manufacturers, and rightly does so. This is where he delivers best. After reading this book, you will carefully watch your steps when implementing new Web services. You will avoid many mistakes others have done previously. This alone is reason enough to buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and informative
Review: This book teaches both a philosophy of web publishing and the technology of how to implement it. Greenspun successfully argues for a carefully-designed user interface, quick response time, and facilities for allowing users to share information. As a result of this book, I am building a database-backed web site. I find Greenspun's strong opinions and colorful examples to be entertaining, although some people might find them unprofessional. It certainly does not read like a technical book, although it's packed with information.
| 
