woodsb@helios.ecn.purdue.edu (Brent L. Woods) (04/14/91)
The following originally appeared in comp.sys.amiga, but I'm
told that it has faded into the mists of history, so I'm reposting it
here. Please bear with me, eh? ;-)
I have a question for anyone who cares to answer it. Actually,
several questions.
If someone were to write a general beginner's reference-type book
for the Amiga, would you be interested in having one (assuming that you
were a beginner, that is)? What would you like to see included in the
book? Is there anything that, as a part of the book, would really
enhance its value to you?
Any comments, ideas, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Actually, I'm posting this for a friend without net access. She's
a writer/editor with an Amiga, and she's currently rather annoyed with
a perceived lack of general books for the beginning and intermediate
user (not programmers, *users*). So, unlike a lot of people, she wants
to *do* something about it. Before the starts, though, she thought that
asking her market what it wants would be a good idea. I agreed with
this, :-) so I said, "Sure, I'll post a question for you." Thus, this
posting.
Again, any help anyone would care to give would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
--
Brent Woods
INTERNET: woodsb@gn.ecn.purdue.edu
USNAIL: 2818 S. Sunrise Dr. / New Palestine, IN 46163
PHONE: +1 (317) 861-4844 (voice)dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) (04/16/91)
In article <1991Apr14.073453.21953@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> woodsb@helios.ecn.purdue.edu (Brent L. Woods) writes: > > I have a question for anyone who cares to answer it. Actually, >several questions. > > If someone were to write a general beginner's reference-type book >for the Amiga, would you be interested in having one (assuming that you >were a beginner, that is)? What would you like to see included in the >book? Is there anything that, as a part of the book, would really >enhance its value to you? > > Any comments, ideas, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > > Again, any help anyone would care to give would be appreciated. > > Thanks in advance, > It is extremely important to explain some computer theory, such as why and how data is stored in directories. You should mention that programs reside in directories, and each directory contains a group of programs that are used together in some way. A few selected programs can be executed from any director, on the condition that it is predefined through search path (such as the c: directory). Also make it clear that many programs are considered commands that are either stored on disk or are stored in memory (using the resident command). When I first started using the Amiga, I was moving in from a c128, and didn't understand all of the directories. It is important to mention how you can call commands in other directories by using path names, how to change directories, and how commands expect certain libraries or files to be in certain places. For example, when I first used lharc, I did not understand how to get the output file where I wanted it to go, or how to get the input file from another directory. > >-- > Brent Woods > >INTERNET: woodsb@gn.ecn.purdue.edu >USNAIL: 2818 S. Sunrise Dr. / New Palestine, IN 46163 >PHONE: +1 (317) 861-4844 (voice) -- David Tiberio SUNY Stony Brook 2-3481 AMIGA DDD-MEN Tomas Arce Any students from SUNY Oswego? Please let me know! :) Un ragazzo di Casalbordino, Italia.
tjehl@wilgus.intel.COM (Timothy Jehl) (04/16/91)
In article <1991Apr14.073453.21953@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>, woodsb@helios.ecn.purdue.edu (Brent L. Woods) writes: |> |> If someone were to write a general beginner's reference-type book |> for the Amiga, would you be interested in having one (assuming that you |> were a beginner, that is)? What would you like to see included in the |> book? Is there anything that, as a part of the book, would really |> enhance its value to you? |> I (bold face) would like a "how to..." book, with all of the common things that a rookie would like to be able to do. I realize that all of this info is available in the documentation somewhere, and I have figured most of it out myself, but there are a lot of things beginners want to know. How do I set the clock, and make it update properly? How do I add more fonts? How do I set up paths and aliases? How do I make those icons stay in one place after I put them there? How to I change my pointer, and while we're at it, other things in the environment? I think that there would be a lot of beginners interested in a book of quick fixes. IMHO, a lot of people by an AMIGA because they want ease of use, and they can't afford a MAC. They are then surprised by the fact that, possibly for the first time, they have bought a product that is every bit as good as they expected it to be. The less some people have to know about the internals, the better they like it, and if they can get neat add on features without being required to learn something, so much the better. Tim
jms@vanth.UUCP (Jim Shaffer) (04/18/91)
Another thing that *must* be in there is an explanation of the fact that (under 1.3) files do NOT automatically have icons! Unless you've been there, you have no idea how many messages appear on Compuserve almost continuously saying something to the effect of "I'm pissed off! I just spent two hours downloading files, and when I opened the disk I couldn't find anything. What the hell is wrong here?!" (And then after they figure out that they have to use the CLI or a dirutil (ugh!) to see them, they get all excited about the fact that they won't run. And then we have to tell them how to run LHARC, usually on a one-floppy system... I am *so glad* that people have this figured out by the time they get Usenet access!) -- * From the disk of: | jms@vanth.uucp | "You know I never knew Jim Shaffer, Jr. | amix.commodore.com!vanth!jms | that it could be so 37 Brook Street | uunet!cbmvax!amix!vanth!jms | strange..." Montgomery, PA 17752 | 72750.2335@compuserve.com | (R.E.M.)