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Rating: 
Summary: Awful...
Review: I had to purchase this book for my CIS class. Our class became a text book editing course because of the numerous mistakes found in this book. Some of the mistakes were simple math errors and others were more more complex(esp. in the programming chapter), and would not easily be caught by the target audence for this book (the non-computer savvy). The quiz sections at the end of each chapter have the most mistakes, their answers being wrong in the teacher's guide and on the CD that accompanies the book. The authors word the questions in strange ways; for example: in the text of the book he states that a twisted-pair wire is LESS SUSCEPTIBLE to interferance, and in the questions at the end of the chapter (true or false) he states "Network links that use twisted-pair wires can suffer from interference..." The correct answer, according to the key, is false. That is clearly wrong. Less susceptible does not mean unsusceptible, but not as susceptable, so there could be some interference.There is also alot of space wasted in this book on a ROBOT computer that does nothing. They spend 11 pages discussing the features of the ROBOT and never mention where this robot exists. It left my class utterly confused: was it hypothetical, virtual, physical? We don't know. From the ROBOT the text went directly into another mind numbing example: the pencil and paper computer... With the language, math, and technical errors that plague this book I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not in a class which requires this book. If you do need this book, buy it used.
Rating:
Summary: Awful...
Review: I had to purchase this book for my CIS class. Our class became a text book editing course because of the numerous mistakes found in this book. Some of the mistakes were simple math errors and others were more more complex(esp. in the programming chapter), and would not easily be caught by the target audence for this book (the non-computer savvy). The quiz sections at the end of each chapter have the most mistakes, their answers being wrong in the teacher's guide and on the CD that accompanies the book. The authors word the questions in strange ways; for example: in the text of the book he states that a twisted-pair wire is LESS SUSCEPTIBLE to interferance, and in the questions at the end of the chapter (true or false) he states "Network links that use twisted-pair wires can suffer from interference..." The correct answer, according to the key, is false. That is clearly wrong. Less susceptible does not mean unsusceptible, but not as susceptable, so there could be some interference. There is also alot of space wasted in this book on a ROBOT computer that does nothing. They spend 11 pages discussing the features of the ROBOT and never mention where this robot exists. It left my class utterly confused: was it hypothetical, virtual, physical? We don't know. From the ROBOT the text went directly into another mind numbing example: the pencil and paper computer... With the language, math, and technical errors that plague this book I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not in a class which requires this book. If you do need this book, buy it used.
Rating: 
Summary: computer continuum indeed
Review: The computer continuum is a great text book that explains the ins and outs of the computer world excellently. As a student this text is a necessity for my field of study, but this book is also helpful to all, whether student, professional or just the average joe. Anything you need explained or even just a definition is easily found and understood in this text. A wonderful book to add to any computer text library.
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