Rating:  Summary: Designed by Committee Review: This book is clearly an example of what happens when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. In this case it is many contributors leading to a confusing number of styles. It appears that the book was designed for entry level college courses not for the Authorware developer. What is needed for Authorware productivity is a book similar to Director Demystified by Jason Roberts and Phil Gross.
Rating:  Summary: Hastily Compiled, Overpriced, Yet Still Useful Review: This book is getting bad reviews and it is understandable. There are several typos. Presentation is uneven. Yet some areas, such as an overview of processes involved in cbt development, how to make a Knowledge Object, troubleshooting shocked pieces, and scripting exercises are great. If one can design a good KO using this book, that alone can significantly cut down production cost. I just wish the book was priced better and was properly edited.
Rating:  Summary: Vital information, but uneven presentation Review: This book patches together chapters by many authors. Some have done outstanding work, others appear to have thrown their stuff together with little attention to detail, readability, or even simple grammatical errors. I would pan the book completely except that the info in the good chapters is absolutely invaluable! Too bad to spend so much money for half of a great book. I got virtually no value out of the CD.
Rating:  Summary: Ouch. Just plain BAD. Review: Wow, what a pile of slop. There's so much inconsistency in the content, style, and methodology that it's practically unusable. I can't recommend this book for ANYONE--novices or experts, or anyone inbetween. It's a real stinker. It goes from 'slapped together' to totally incoherent, and back--several times. Examples are poorly laid out and explained, and much of the information seems laid out in a "look what WE know!" style (the old "baffle them with BS" routine), instead of a clearly-explained, well- written style. I know many people that frequent the AWARE list have come to blindly worship some of the contributors to this book, but this book will not enhance your opinion of these people. Not one shred. You'll read the book and think "Wow, *I* could have written something this bad", and "How could I have blindly bowed before these same folks on the AWARE list?"While there might actually be an interesting nugget or two in the book, it's most DEFINITELY overpriced for its content. Read it only to realize these people are not the gods you think they are... or for a good laugh...or cry, as the case may be. It's THE most disappointing book I've had the misfortune of reading in years. It's unfortunate that I'm forced to give it even ONE star here, because it's a "0"-star book, at best. It's... embarassingly bad. I could never justify taking money from people for something as poorly constructed an written as this book is.
|