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Rating: 
Summary: Dangerously Inaccurate, basicly incoherent
Review: If you are a working professional in this field, much better is Interactive TV Technology & Markets by H.O. Srivastava. If you are a consumer getting your feet wet, some of the WebTV or AOL TV books are a better bet. However, if you enjoy pre-internet-crash style needless boosterism combined with a complete lack of understanding of the technologies and business models surrounding interactive television, this is probably the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Navigating through a complicated landscape
Review: Navigating through the complex landscape of ITV is difficult to do. In an industry that finds it hard to define itself, it's very helpful to get a broad picture that clarifies the basic concepts and issues.
In very clear, user friendly words,Annesa Hartman manages to provide a trail through the ITV world I found easy to follow. The book provides an historical context that is very helpful for understanding the connection between television, the Internet and ITV. It provides an overall picture of the different industry aspects through easy to understand examples of production, technology, standards and content issues. You can also get a "hands on" experience through the CDROM. All of the above allow you to then choose which aspect of the industry you wish to explore further.
The interviews with industry players provide a valuable "inside" look , which I found particularly helpful and interesting.
Great for anyone who is starting out in this field - producers, content creators, technically non-savvy people and students. ( I have used it for my graduate school work)
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Current
Review: The book is an excellent overview of the industry. It provides a historical and developmently approach to the ITV industry. The subject is written with a sense of humor which invites the reader into an arena that may be foreign information. It is well organized with an approach toward learning the subject with points of interest highlighted and a summary at the end of each chapter. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the area of ITV.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Current
Review: The book is an excellent overview of the industry. It provides a historical and developmently approach to the ITV industry. The subject is written with a sense of humor which invites the reader into an arena that may be foreign information. It is well organized with an approach toward learning the subject with points of interest highlighted and a summary at the end of each chapter. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the area of ITV.
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate Information - Misleading
Review: This book makes it appear as if one can simply write Web applications that will run on Interactive Television - an egregious error. The book fails to mention a number of the major players and products in the industry. It also fails to discuss implementation details (such as headend components) and limitations of which developers must be aware (such as bandwidth restrictions).
Rating:
Summary: Misleading and poor information
Review: This book proports to give information on how to produce for the interactive television industry. Unfortunately, the information is misguided, since most of interactive television is NOT using the tools or standards listed in the book. Additionally, some of the largest players in the Cable TV space are not even mentioned - players like Comcast, Motorola and SeaChange International. This book is a terrible dis-service for those individuals who are looking to learn about this complex industry.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: This title is an indepth and very entertaining explanation of the past, present and future of Interactive Television. It is written in a conversational tone that makes all the topics easily understandable. The layout and design of the text makes it very readable and the inclusion of Lessons and a CD is a much appreciated bonus. I look forward to future texts by Hartman as this medium evolves.
Rating:
Summary: Mind Opening
Review: With little background and real interest in this topic, I picked up this book almost by whim and surprisingly found myself quickly growing more intrigued. It's written in an engaging style and provides just enough history for the novice such as myself to see the broader perspectives of this rapidly developing field. It told a "story" but the ending is still unfinished with the author presenting some of the more interesting possibilities. I also really enjoyed many of the "sidebar" interviews of the leading figures in the field. When I started I didn't think I would actually read the whole book but I did. And I glad I did.
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