I regard computers in the same way I do a colonoscopy: invasive and unpleasant.

I welcome anything that can make them and their use less of both. I know many people feel the same way I do. The management of many companies must wince too when they look at how much they spend each year on supporting these machines.

What’s in the book?
Computer Ease by Helen Gallagher is intended for novice or fairly new computer users. The early chapters seem most appropriate for novices, while the later ones take on slightly more advanced topics that should be part of every computer user’s knowledge base.

The book is short (117 pages), and that’s good because thick books on computer use can be off-putting and intimidating to readers. Somehow, though, the book is able to cover a lot of ground.

Chapter subjects include file management, accessibility and ergonomics, protecting the computer in a variety of ways (e.g., hard drive care and feeding), spyware, and what to do when a computer threatens to crash—or does. The spyware discussion is detailed and useful—and scary. It will certainly motivate uninformed computer users to build stout defenses against spyware and its cousins.

How good is it?
Computers seem to invite writers to prove their knowledge by throwing around technical terms and using the syntax of technical manuals—the more convoluted the text, the more deeply knowledgeable the writer must be. In addition, writers about computers often adopt a frosty attitude toward the reader, a reflection, I suppose, of the very serious business in which they are engaged.

Gallagher writes with laudable clarity. She doesn’t hesitate to use plain language when it’s perfectly capable of conveying the meaning. She uses technical terms judiciously and is always careful to define them. Even more surprisingly for a computer book, the author writes with a sense of humor—she manages to keep things light while still delivering on her main purpose.

Gallagher dares to empathize with the reader. She remembers how daunting a computer can be to first-time users and to more experienced users who suddenly run into a major problem for the first time such as a failing hard drive. In the early part of the book, she spends quite a few words bolstering the confidence of readers, encouraging them to regard learning about a computer, its capabilities, and even its drawbacks and weaknesses as both fun and rewarding.

Occasionally, the chapter titles don’t accurately describe the subject or seem phrased more for humor than for conveying information. In a how-to book, I think it’s wise to have subtitles that do the mundane work of naming the chapter’s main topic.

Also, the book has no screenshots. It doesn’t need many because the descriptions of actions to be performed on the computer are clearly described, but especially for beginners, a picture can help the reader understand what he or she is supposed to do.

Recommendation
Helen Gallagher’s Computer Ease introduces novices to the PC and inexperienced users to important issues like the threat spyware poses. This is a computer book a reader will actually enjoy, thanks to the author’s ability to write clearly and keep the tone light. The book can be used for individual reference or as the basis for training a group.

Product Ratings Computer Ease Holds user interest      Value of Content      Self-Study Value      Instructional Value      Value for the money      Overall rating