book recommendations for an computer illiterate...

[GO]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find a very basic introductory book for Windows 2000 Pro for
an extremely computer illiterate person (my father . Win2k books are
becoming quite rare in books stores and I have found it difficult to narrow
down any searches on rudimentary books at the online retailers. Two that I
already have in mind are "Windows 2000 Professional for Dummies" and "Teach
Yourself Windows 2000 in 24 Hours". I'm not sure if either would be ideal
as I think the Dummies' style of humor would turn him away and the "Teach
Yourself" books tend to be a little more beyond just the basics.

Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome.


TIA,


Greg

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find a very basic introductory book for Windows 2000 Pro for
an extremely computer illiterate person (my father . Win2k books are
becoming quite rare in books stores and I have found it difficult to narrow
down any searches on rudimentary books at the online retailers. Two that I
already have in mind are "Windows 2000 Professional for Dummies" and "Teach
Yourself Windows 2000 in 24 Hours". I'm not sure if either would be ideal
as I think the Dummies' style of humor would turn him away and the "Teach
Yourself" books tend to be a little more beyond just the basics.

Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome.


TIA,


Greg

I'm not sure if a book would help your father. It depends on his
age, his willingness to explore totally unknown concepts and his
ability to follow other people's trains of thought. Older people
often have quite specific requirements when wishing to use a PC,
and these requirements are only a tiny subset of what a PC can
to. Text books, unfortunately, have to cover the whole ground.
He might get overwhelmed by the wealth of information.

If you can afford the time then personal tuition might be the
answer, backed up by remote assistance to answer the countless
questions that pop up in the early stages. I speak with experience:
My mother was 84 when she started computing, and she got
there with my brother's patient assistance. These days I support
her much of the time by remotely controlling her PC when
required. She lives in Europe, I live in Australia. Distance is
irrelevant. I might add that she loves it - it's the window to her
shrunken world!

 

[Crouchie1998]

No insults intended

1) Windows 2000 for Dummies
2) Windows 2000 for Idiots

Wouldn't have a clue what their ISBN's are though. If you search
http://www.amazon.com you will find it.

Crouchie1998
BA (HONS) MCP MCSE

 

[GO]

that

I'm not sure if a book would help your father. It depends on his
age, his willingness to explore totally unknown concepts and his
ability to follow other people's trains of thought. Older people
often have quite specific requirements when wishing to use a PC,
and these requirements are only a tiny subset of what a PC can
to. Text books, unfortunately, have to cover the whole ground.
He might get overwhelmed by the wealth of information.

If you can afford the time then personal tuition might be the
answer, backed up by remote assistance to answer the countless
questions that pop up in the early stages. I speak with experience:
My mother was 84 when she started computing, and she got
there with my brother's patient assistance. These days I support
her much of the time by remotely controlling her PC when
required. She lives in Europe, I live in Australia. Distance is
irrelevant. I might add that she loves it - it's the window to her
shrunken world!

It actually baffles me at how inept he is when it comes to computers (and
well...technology in general...he still can't program or set the time on the
vcr!!). Computers are so foreign to him it's like he's trying to get by in
some foreign country where nobody speaks/understands english. It's really
quite funny and fortunately he laughs at it too I wouldn't mind
tutoring him myself but we presently live 1500km apart so it makes things a
little difficult. He doesn't even have an internet connection yet so I
can't even remote control the machine to show him things. I've suggested
to him several times to take some courses and I know for a fact that his
work would pay for them but he has yet to do so. I think I will end up
getting him the "Dummies" book, at least it will be a start and something he
can pick away at.

Thanks for your reply.


Cheers,


Greg

 

[GO]

No insults intended

1) Windows 2000 for Dummies
2) Windows 2000 for Idiots

Wouldn't have a clue what their ISBN's are though. If you search
http://www.amazon.com you will find it.

Crouchie1998
BA (HONS) MCP MCSE

None taken. I refer to him a technological dummy all the time anyways
I think I will be going with the "Dummies" book. It's cheap enough that I
won't feel bad if it ends up as a door stop or paper weight.




Greg