User's Guide to the Information Age

by Morris, Kenneth M.

• ISBN13: 9780071349475
• ISBN10: 0071349472
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

All aboard for the first visual tour of the Information Age: part technical introduction and part reference guide, filled with eye-popping graphics and a gigabyte of anecdotes and statistics that illuminate our suddenly wired world. For the millions of Americans just getting into technology, this user's guide is a feast for the eye and mind. Full color.

Table of Contents

THE BACKBONE OF THE INFORMATION AGE	6	(16)
Birth of a New Era	6	(2)
Information Age Concepts	8	(2)
Analog and Digital Information	10	(2)
Binary Code	12	(2)
The Magic Chip	14	(2)
Here a Chip, There a Chip	16	(2)
Bandwidth	18	(2)
Communications Spectrum	20	(2)
MAKING THE RIGHT CONNECTION	22	(32)
Communicating across Time and Space	22	(2)
How Networks Network	24	(2)
Voice and Data	26	(2)
A Phone Is a Phone Is a...	28	(2)
Getting in Touch	30	(2)
What the Numbers Mean	32	(2)
Toll-free Calls	34	(2)
Central Intelligence	36	(2)
How May I Help You?	38	(2)
Wired	40	(2)
Cable Able	42	(2)
A New (Tele)Vision	44	(2)
Look, Mom, No Wires	46	(2)
The Outer Limits	48	(2)
Anytime Anywhere Anyhow	50	(2)
Keeping the Lines Humming	52	(2)
COMPUTERS	54	(32)
From Bean Counter to Communicator	54	(2)
A Gallery of Computers	56	(2)
How Computers Compute	58	(2)
Computer Logic	60	(2)
Software Is the Hard Stuff	62	(2)
Software Everywhere	64	(2)
Programming	66	(2)
Thinking Machines	68	(2)
Thanks to the Memory	70	(2)
Storing Your Information	72	(2)
Conversing with Computers	74	(2)
Computer Speak	76	(2)
Viruses	78	(2)
Modems	80	(2)
On the Periphery	82	(2)
Buying a Computer	84	(2)
THE INTERNET	86	(30)
The Internet	86	(2)
Internet Plumbing	88	(2)
Choosing an ISP	90	(2)
Internet Traffic	92	(2)
The Client-Server Model	94	(2)
E-mail Is the Way to Go	96	(2)
Usenet	98	(2)
The Chat Room	100	(2)
The World Wide Web	102	(2)
Browsers	104	(2)
Searching for Information	106	(2)
Building a Home Page	108	(2)
Netiquette	110	(2)
Intranets	112	(2)
Webspeak	114	(2)
LIVING IN THE INFORMATION AGE	116
A Digital Day in the Life	116	(2)
Card Smarts	118	(2)
Behind Bars	120	(2)
Telecommuting	122	(2)
The Hands-off Office	124	(2)
Home, Home on the Job	126	(2)
Distance Learning	128	(2)
Cyberlibraries	130	(2)
E-Commerce	132	(2)
Virtual Storefronts	134	(2)
Online Banking	136	(2)
Investing Online	138	(2)
Travel	140	(2)
Digital Photography	142	(2)
That's Entertainment	144	(2)
And the Band Played On(line)	146	(2)
Virtual Reality	148	(2)
Security	150	(2)
Privacy	152	(2)
Blocking and Filtering Information	154