Book Description
Dashboards have become popular in recent years as uniquely powerful tools for communicating important information at a glance. Although dashboards are potentially powerful, this potential is rarely realized. The greatest display technology in the world won't solve this if you fail to use effective visual design. And if a dashboard fails to tell you precisely what you need to know in an instant, you'll never use it, even if it's filled with cute gauges, meters, and traffic lights. Don't let your investment in dashboard technology go to waste.
This book will teach you the visual design skills you need to create dashboards that communicate clearly, rapidly, and compellingly. Information Dashboard Design will explain how to:
- Avoid the thirteen mistakes common to dashboard design
- Provide viewers with the information they need quickly and clearly
- Apply what we now know about visual perception to the visual presentation of information
- Minimize distractions, cliches, and unnecessary embellishments that create confusion
- Organize business information to support meaning and usability
- Create an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience
- Maintain consistency of design to provide accurate interpretation
- Optimize the power of dashboard technology by pairing it with visual effectiveness
Stephen Few has over 20 years of experience as an IT innovator, consultant, and educator. As Principal of the consultancy Perceptual Edge, Stephen focuses on data visualization for analyzing and communicating quantitative business information. He provides consulting and training services, speaks frequently at conferences, and teaches in the MBA program at the University of California in Berkeley. He is also the author of Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten. Visit his website at www.perceptualedge.com.
Customer Reviews:
Buy this Book!.......2007-09-12
This book is great, it gets to the point, tells you what you need to know, provides many examples and is entertaining at the same time. The people who are still fascinated by all the colors in their kids Crayola boxes probably would object to some of Few's points.
Over-raed approach to stern looking dashboards.......2007-09-03
The key elements of dashboard design (avoid clutter, focus and limit visual cues, beware of rainbow colors, carefully chose when to show numbers, tables or (appropriate) graphs), converted in a very lengthy and expensive piece of litterature. And the results is by all accounts debatable in terms of look and feel, in particular as very little attention is given to who your audience is...
I would not recommend this book.
Another Tech Book Killed by Frills and Filler .......2007-09-02
There can be no doubt that the pages of this book contain some of the most original and decisive ideas about dashboard design of any book to come out on the market. Yet this strength cannot quite redeem it. This book is mostly pictures, figures, and graphs, many of which are not needed. The same could be said of dashboards in general. The prose is watered down and childlike, as if the author would spoon feed his ideas, one per chapter, to an infant audience. In the end I am forced to conclude that, like many tech books in HCI, a hard core text filled with complex ideas, lean, well-written chapters, and something like wit is both outside the reach of its authors and outside the bounds of contemporary techie marketing. This book may sell, but it does nothing to promote a sophisticated, confident HCI core at a time when awareness of the profession is still patchy. It will be a great day for HCI when its "Gurus" stop condescending to their audience.
Excellent Treatment of the Material.......2007-08-17
This is an easy to read book which does a fantastic job of conveying the topic material. I strongly agree with Few's perspective and think that you wouldn't go wrong with a design that's in alignment with this book.
Great design principles.......2007-08-08
This manual is a great resource for best practices and principles for designing dashboards. It doesn't matter if you buy or build, the material is golden.
Book Description
Tips, techniques, and trends on how to use dashboard technology to optimize business performance
Business performance management is a hot new management discipline that delivers tremendous value when supported by information technology. Through case studies and industry research, this book shows how leading companies are using performance dashboards to execute strategy, optimize business processes, and improve performance.
Wayne W. Eckerson (Hingham, MA) is the Director of Research for The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), the leading association of business intelligence and data warehousing professionals worldwide that provide high-quality, in-depth education, training, and research. He is a columnist for SearchCIO.com, DM Review, Application Development Trends, the Business Intelligence Journal, and TDWI Case Studies & Solution.
Download Description
Tips, techniques, and trends on how to use dashboard technology to optimize business performance Business performance management is a hot new management discipline that delivers tremendous value when supported by information technology. Through case studies and industry research, this book shows how leading companies are using performance dashboards to execute strategy, optimize business processes, and improve performance. Wayne W. Eckerson (Hingham, MA) is the Director of Research for The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), the leading association of business intelligence and data warehousing professionals worldwide that provide high-quality, in-depth education, training, and research. He is a columnist for SearchCIO.com, DM Review, Application Development Trends, the Business Intelligence Journal, and TDWI Case Studies & Solution.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful material on Performance Dashboards.......2007-07-18
Overall this is a great book, which is extremely well presented... A key point to take home is, that dashboards are not just fancy displays with graphs/ RYG lights, but a set of applications to monitor, measure and manage business performance, with a solid business intelligence and integration infrastructure.... Also, author's point of views on different types of dashboards (strategic, tactical and operational), and the types of audience for each of these types, and their analysis requirements were very insightful.. This coupled with BI maturity model that the author presents, is an invaluable guide for organizations to assess their current state, and provide the roadmap for thier performance management needs... Three detailed case studies have been presented to explain three types of dashboards.
A lot of tricks and tips throughout the book... Strongly recommend this book...
Quo vadis?.......2007-04-12
For purposes of discussion, pretend that your organization is a vehicle within which you and your associates travel en route to a series of destinations; for example, various stages of progressively improved operational efficiency and progressively increased profitability. One key question arises: How well is your vehicle performing?
The three "dashboards" (i.e. operational, tactical, and strategic) that Wayne Eckerson offers in this volume can help to answer that question. "The monitoring application conveys critical information at a glance using timely and relevant data, usually with graphical elements; the analysis application lets users analyze and explore performance data across multiple dimensions and at different levels of detail to get at the root cause of problems and issues; the management application fosters communication among executives, managers, and staff and gives executives continuous feedback across a range of critical activities, enabling them to `steer' their organizations in the right direction."
The ultimate success of the cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system which Eckerson discusses in this book depends on several factors: sufficient leadership and resources at all levels of implementation, correct and consistent application of the right metrics, a compelling graphical user interface, and contingency planning which ensures user adoption while driving the organizational changes.
I especially appreciate Eckerson's provision of three mini case studies that illustrate how -- in real-world situations - the three performance "dashboards" can achieve the desired objectives. Specifically, those that are operational (Quicken Loans, Inc., pages 127-141), those which are tactical (International Truck and Engine Corp., pages 143-158), and those which are strategic (Hewlett Packard Co., pages 159-177). I also appreciate the material provided in Part Three (Critical Success Factors: Tips from the Trenches) as Eckerson correlates various multilayered applications built on business intelligence and data integration infrastructure that enables any organization (regardless of size or nature) to measure, monitor, and manage business performance more effectively.
All executives recognize the importance of accurate and consistent measurement of what really matters. Obviously, the "what" varies (sometimes significantly) from one organization to another. In my opinion, the three performance "dashboards" that Eckerson recommends can be of substantial benefit, whatever the given "what" may be but if - and only if - the aforementioned success factors are present. To repeat, they are: sufficient leadership and resources at all levels of implementation, correct and consistent application of the right metrics, a compelling graphical user interface, and contingency planning which ensures user adoption while driving the organizational changes.
This book is by no means an "easy read" but it will generously reward those who absorb and digest its material with appropriate care. Then what? He fully understands how difficult it is to ensure adoption by others, and, to manage performance effectively throughout the given enterprise. In the final chapter, Eckerson notes that performance dashboards can easily backfire and cause performance to decline or stall instead of climb. He then identifies what he characterizes as eight cardinal sins " that can turn a performance dashboard into a performance quagmire." How to avoid them? Eckerson offers nine strategies to ensure adoption and eight strategies to manage performance.
I highly recommend this brilliant book as well as Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement. Both are eminently worthy of thoughtful and rigorous consideration. However, that said, I also offer a caveat expressed by Peter Drucker in 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." Invoking again the "vehicle" metaphor introduced in the first paragraph of this brief commentary, I presume to suggest that if you and your companions don't know where you are going, "any road will get you there."
Performance Dashboards.......2007-01-10
The first two-thirds of the book were extremely disappointing and added very little value to the understanding of how to create effective dashboards. Instead, the author spent far too much time discussing IT concepts and buzzwords such as datamarts, multidimensional databases, operational data stores and OLAP tools. Much of the book reads as a platform for why one needs to invest in IT to help manage your business performance. It wasn't until the final third of the book that some useful concepts were explored regarding how a non-IT person should go about developing a solid performance dashboard.
Must read for keen Performance Management specialists and Managers.......2007-01-10
The book delivered exactly what I have expected from it. It provides clear picture about how Performance Dashboards work. It is very well structured, blends theory with experience and targets keen developers and users.
When I purchased the book, I was asked to put forward a proposal for a comprehensive Performance Management system. I really benefited from the systematic approach used to build such system.
It recommend it for anyone who is implementing performance management system, or even business process management systems which also provides performance dashboards of the automated processes.
Best Description Yet of Dashboard Goals and Structure.......2007-01-09
This is the first book that I have read that gives a good overview of how and why you would use a dashboard. It has a good flow and give you information you can use. It is a little dry, but it is hard to make this too exciting.
Book Description
No matter what industry your company competes in, you need to have a firm understanding of how to create a direct link between shareholder value and critical business processes in order to improve performance and achieve long-term value. Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation contains the information and expertise you need to do just this—and much more.
Customer Reviews:
How to link and then drive both performance and value.......2007-04-27
All vehicles have dashboards and those manufactured in recent years have dashboards with gauges which measure more than engine temperature, miles driven, available fuel, etc. Those within the dashboard in my wife's Honda Pilot, for example, measure tire pressure, the temperature outside, and the current percentage of oil efficiency. It also has a built-in compass. I thought about all this as I recently read Wayne Eckerson's Performance Dashboards and Jack Alexander's Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation. If viewed as vehicles, all organizations need means by which to measure, accurately, performance at all levels and in all areas of operation. Burn rate is analogous with consumption of fuel, as are the costs of replacing customers and valued employees analogous with the costs of repairs necessitated by neglect of scheduled (preventive) vehicle maintenance. Comparisons can also be made in terms of alignment and torque. The performance of organizations as well as of vehicles can be measured accurately; only then is it possible to minimize or, better yet, eliminate waste of available resources.
In Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation, Alexander does a brilliant job of introducing and then explaining what he calls the "Value Performance Framework" (VPF) which will enable those who execute it effectively to link and then drive both performance and value. Within his crisp and eloquent narrative, he focuses on performance dashboards and Excel models which are included in a companion CD-ROM. They are identified in the book with a CD-RM logo. As Alexander explains, the dashboards and spreadsheets are intended as working examples for use after appropriate modification to each reader's own circumstances (i.e. resources, needs, and objectives). I hasten to add that the VPF can be of substantial value to any organization, whatever its size and nature may be.
After discussing "the single greatest challenge in creating an effective measurement system" in Chapter 1, Alexander carefully organizes his material as follows:
Part One (Chapters 2-4): Creating Context and Covering the Basics
Excerpt: "Typically, more can be learned by understanding why firms differ on key [valuation] measures than by selecting a peer group that shares common characteristics. A much richer picture is framed by comparing [and contrasting] your firm to market averages and several best-practice companies in addition to a peer group. Further, the use of a broad set of [valuation] measures, with appropriate benchmarks, would help to avoid the level of valuation errors that were made in the recent stock market bubble." (Page 58)
Part Two (Chapters 5-10): Linking Performance and Value
Excerpt: "There are hundreds of potential measures to choose from to measure different aspects of operating effectiveness. Great care must be exercised in selecting the measures that are most appropriate to a firm at a specific point in time. The performance dashboards must reflect key business priorities. The measures should be evaluated periodically and revised to reflect ever-changing priorities and conditions. It is also critical to provide balance to ensure that a focus on efficiency is not achieved at the expense of quality, customer satisfaction, or growth." (Page 142)
Part Three (Chapters 11-13): Driving Performance and Value
Excerpt: "The single most important factor for achieving success with a [Performance Measurement Framework] is to create context for the measurement system. This is achieved by creating linkage among strategy, performance management, process and quality initiatives, financial performance, and shareholder value. It is also critical to integrate and link operating measures to financial measures and then to shareholder value measures. The time spent in establishing this linkage will improve understanding and ultimately the effectiveness of the framework." (Page 232)
Those who share my high regard for this brilliant book are urged to check out the aforementioned Performance Dashboards written by Wayne Eckerson as well as Joseph Bower and Clark Gilbert's From Resource Allocation to Strategy, Jeanne Ross's Enterprise Architecture as Strategy, Henry Chesbrough's Open Business Models, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, and Ram Charan's Know-How.
Great for Small Businesses too!.......2007-04-12
As a CPA in Public Practice, I found that the "Value Performance Framework" laid out in Alexander's book very adaptable to the small business perspective. It's a very good read and I often refer back to it during my small business engagements.
A must read for public company functional managers.......2007-04-03
Public Company CFO - I have made this a must read for each of my direct reports. This book takes what many have made overly complex and turns it into a real tool to use within the company in driving improved performance. Logically outlines the concepts in terms that are easily understood by both finance and non finance managers. The use of detailed examples, defining key terms and providing working/tailorable templates enables the reader to accelerate real value creation. For a public company it is a valuable enabler for the finance team and it allows functional managers to see the connections between their actions and building value for our shareholders
Great workbook for every management level.......2007-02-05
I've used this book repeatedly since I purchased it a couple of months ago. It is both an excellent reference source and, more importantly, a mechanism for action for all managers that contribute to a company's performance.
The dashboard concept provides easily understood and asimilated performance data for every level of management. The book provides a step by step approach that if implemented corporate wide, must increase awareness and forms the platform for sustained value creation.
The spreadsheet examples on the attached disk are easy to customize to your own situation and take all the pain out of getting started.
Great Book for the Mid-Level Manager.......2007-02-01
I am a mid level manager in a Fortune 500 company. I found Jack's book to be an excellent resource for understanding Value Creation and how to quantify Value Creation to non-finance people within the organization. Jack does a great job of explaining the concepts in an easy-to-read style. It's a "must read" for lower and mid level managers in today's business environment.
Average customer rating:
- Good Insights for Today's Marketer
- A Consultant concepts and methods to develop a Dashboard for the Marketing Function.
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Marketing by the Dashboard Light
Patrick LaPointe
Manufacturer: ANA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1563180367 |
Product Description
A marketing dashboard can be your catalyst for success and credibility. But where do you start? What do you include? And how do you ensure that the marketing dashboard will add to marketings accountability? Marketing by the Dashboard Light: How to Get More Insight, Foresight, and Accountability from Your Marketing Investments gives you insight into planning, design, construction and implementation of an effective marketing dashboard. And for those who already have one, Marketing by the Dashboard Light gives you the information you need to help retool and focus your dashboard for maximum effect. Marketing by the Dashboard Light features insight interviews with CMOs from Fortune 100 companies including: Allstate Charles Schwab McDonalds Corporation Hewlett Packard Wachovia Citibank Home Depot Pitney Bowes Dow Corning General Electric and many others.
Customer Reviews:
Good Insights for Today's Marketer.......2007-01-19
In this new era when marketing is more than just throwing dollars after programs, this book shows you how to measure the effectiveness of your marketing dollars.
A Consultant concepts and methods to develop a Dashboard for the Marketing Function........2006-06-28
The literature on Dashboards is expanding. The use and development of Dashboards is not a typical academic topic, so many of the authors have a consulting practice that is related to developing Dashboards. This is the case of this book.
I found it to be a well written book, but it is not an academic book, so there are references to products and services provided by several organizations(not limited to the author's). Despite this fact, it is very useful, it will help in the development of Dashboards for the marketing function. You will find concepts and methods in a summarized form, organized in a very rational sequence. The book is a mix of concepts to be used in developing a Dashboard for the marketing function, following a methodology that is probably practiced by the author himself and his company.
The layout of the book is well done, in my opinion is better designed than the front cover.
In some topics the reader may get the impression that they are covered in sufficient depth to serve as a teaser for the type of professional knowledge that is required to do it, so naturally the reader might just pick up the phone and call MarketingNPV.
Book Description
- As the fastest growing dashboarding solution on the market, Xcelsius is an intuitive stand-alone Windows application that enables Excel users to transform the contents of an ordinary Excel spreadsheet into an engaging, interactive Flash-based dashboard
- Offers step-by-step instruction on the wide array of functionality that Xcelsius has to offer so that readers can complete mini-dashboards of increasing complexity with each chapter
- Addresses how to prepare Excel spreadsheets for use with Xcelsius dashboards and then use basic components of Xcelsius (charts, buttons, labels)
- Shows ways to add advanced functionality to dashboards (gauges, sliders, maps) and create interactive business calculators with Xcelsius
- Discusses integrating Xcelsius reports into PowerPoint slides, Web pages, and e-mail
Download Description
"
- As the fastest growing dashboarding solution on the market, Xcelsius is an intuitive stand-alone Windows application that enables Excel users to transform the contents of an ordinary Excel spreadsheet into an engaging, interactive Flash-based dashboard
- Offers step-by-step instruction on the wide array of functionality that Xcelsius has to offer so that readers can complete mini-dashboards of increasing complexity with each chapter
- Addresses how to prepare Excel spreadsheets for use with Xcelsius dashboards and then use basic components of Xcelsius (charts, buttons, labels)
- Shows ways to add advanced functionality to dashboards (gauges, sliders, maps) and create interactive business calculators with Xcelsius
- Discusses integrating Xcelsius reports into PowerPoint slides, Web pages, and e-mail
"
Customer Reviews:
It's the model, stupid (not the visualization).......2007-08-13
While Xcelsius is a great tool, the model is the substance behind the image. This software makes presentation simple and powerful (and has a bit of the 'wow' factor, especially when sending interactive .pdfs) but the real issue is building the underlying model.
In chapter 15, the 'real world examples,' none of the Excel models are shown. A big omission. It would have been so easy to add the 15 excel files to the 'Bonus material.'
Great book.......2007-01-09
I liked this book a lot. I enjoyed the writing and even tough it was a Dummies book, it contained all the information that I needed to be able to get started mastering Crystal Xcelsius.
Xcelsius for Dummies.......2006-09-08
After being assigned to produce Dashboards for our company, I tried to read and understand the manual. I saw the Crystal Xcelsius for Dummies and thought I would give it a try. This book had me up and running in 2 days and I actually understood "why" things were happening. This is a great book for beginners and has a hands on approach to the learning, which I find extremely helpful. This book is for anyone who wants to learn Crystal Xcelsius in a hurry.
Is good but is the first.......2006-07-17
Is the best option to begin you in this excellent software like Xcelsius...
It is importat that you consider this book your initiation to after be a PRO using more complex dashboards (with the practice I mean!)
Making Fancier Presentations from Excel.......2006-07-12
The 'For Dummies' books have done it again. This is a complete and thourough introduction to using Xcelsius to give you an entirely new set of sophisticated ways to show Excel data in graphical form.
Xcelsius specializes in what they call dashboards. That is, the data is diaplayed in the form of gauges (speedometer, gas gauge, they even have what they call 'alerts' that are close to idiot lights). You can also design inputs in the form of sliders, buttons, again, not unlike an automobile dashboard.
In addition to dashboards there are other features such a maps, enhanced charts, pictures -- all kinds of things to ehnance the visual experience of a presentation.
Technically, Xcelsius compiles your visual model into a Flash (.swf) file and creates an HTML file that calls the .swf file. The HTML file is of course presented using a web browser, PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Outlook, or Plumtree.
As in most 'For Dummies' books, this one starts slow, builds on the base, and by the end of the book you have a pretty good idea about the whole thing.
Book Description
Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT is a one-stop resource of methodology and best practices for this dynamic and relevant information platform, packed with charts, reports, visual indicators, and alert mechanisms, all consolidated in a rich computer interface. This powerful book is both a guide and a handbook. It helps business leaders understand dashboarding while considering dashboards for their information needs and outlines a tested and proven, step-by-step implementation framework. Enterprise Dashboards covers strategies, vendor selections, execution steps, project milestones, dashboard types, case studies contributed by DaimlerChrysler, Emergency Medical Associates, and ING Direct, and more. Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT is the perfect tool to help COOs, CIOs, CFOs, CTOs, IT managers, business intelligence managers, information analysts, and software consultants be successful at dashboard implementation.
Download Description
Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT is a one-stop resource of methodology and best practices for this dynamic and relevant information platform, packed with charts, reports, visual indicators, and alert mechanisms, all consolidated in a rich computer interface. This powerful book is both a guide and a handbook. It helps business leaders understand dashboarding while considering dashboards for their information needs and outlines a tested and proven, step-by-step implementation framework. Enterprise Dashboards covers strategies, vendor selections, execution steps, project milestones, dashboard types, case studies contributed by DaimlerChrysler, Emergency Medical Associates, and ING Direct, and more. Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT is the perfect tool to help COOs, CIOs, CFOs, CTOs, IT managers, business intelligence managers, information analysts, and software consultants be successful at dashboard implementation.
Customer Reviews:
Use computerized "dashboards" to keep your business on the right track and out of accidents........2007-04-02
Shadan Malik aims to acquaint businesses with the concept of "dashboards" and the process of implementing them, from collecting information and assessing the audience to storyboarding and project planning. Other dashboard-related books discuss the value of these information platforms, but don't explain how to create them. One warning: The book is crammed with charts and images, which may turn off readers who don't absorb information graphically, though it will please those who do. Some screenshots are so poorly reproduced that you may think you suddenly need a new eyeglass prescription. We recommend this book to executives, department heads, managers and other businesspeople who wish to implement a dashboard and need some practical guidance.
Minimal utility--other books are better.......2006-10-24
If this is the only book on dashboards you read, you won't know that it doesn't contain much help or good "best practices". There was little I found to help me in my investigation of good dashboard design. In particular, I was annoyed that nearly all graphics are fuzzy and not crisp, and none are in color. Also, the author never mentions that dashboard meters that look like analog speedometers are space-wasting, and are NOT a best practice--like Wayne Eckerson does in his book, "Performance Dashboards". The table (not matrix--the incorrect term the author uses) provided for assessing dashboards was very superficial--not something I found useful at all. The book even contained a sentence fragment in a topic sentence--something I found unforgiveable in a hardbound book in this price range.
Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT.......2006-08-29
I thought it was ok at best. Maybe I just know more than I thought :) But I didn't really get a lot out of this one.
A Dashboard Implementation Primer.......2006-07-26
This is a book aimed at the experienced business intelligence developer or the C level executive. It provides a sound methodological framework for using enterprise dashboards as a fundamental performance management tool. This is a 'must read' for anyone contemplating dashboard deployment in their organization.
This is a Draft... for the next edition........2006-06-20
I guess this is the first book by Shadan Malik. It looks like a manual written for internal use by a company. It is a "methodology" to develop dashboards, with several paragraphs where the author presents rules that he uses in that activity, like the way he estimates project efforts, lists of items to check for and so on.
The book may be of help, for it contains several ideas and concepts that can be used in the process of developing dashboards. It should not be the single source of information on this subject, if you compare this book with Stephen Few's Information Dashboard Design you will find several differences of opinion and concepts that one should be aware of.
The author shall have to do some additional research on the area of visual communication. (For example reading Stephen Few or Edward Tuft books). Many examples presented in the book could be used as examples of things that should not to be done according to the experts in visual communication.
The author uses acronyms(a limited use)to present some general concepts related to dashboards. I personally don't like the use of forced acronyms, they remember me of an old way of teaching where the student memorized several facts just for the examination. It is better to present and give examples of each concept to help make the point.
I gave it three stars, thinking that this is the first book of Mr. Malik. If he would be an experienced author my rating would be between one and two stars.
Average customer rating:
- Dont be fooled by its size
- a good quick reference
- OK For Beginning Mac Users
- Mac OS X Tiger: Pocket Guide
- IT's best friend!
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Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide (Pocket References)
Chuck Toporek
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
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Mac OS X Tiger: Missing Manual
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The Mac OS X Tiger Book
ASIN: 0596009143 |
Book Description
There's a new cat in town, and Mac OS X Tiger is the next big thing from Apple. The latest version of Mac OS X, Tiger is faster than its predecessors, and packs a host of new features including Spotlight, Dashboard, a totally new Mail application, Automator for making complex tasks simple, and many more. The Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide introduces you to the fundamental concepts of using Mac OS X Tiger. The book starts out with a quick run down of Tiger's cool new features, including the new RSS screen saver and the built-in dictionary/thesaurus you can use from any application. The Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide shows you how to use the Finder, the Dock, Expos , Spotlight, Dashboard, including tips, tricks, and keyboard shortcuts along the way. You'll learn how to configure your Tiger system using the System Preferences application, and also how to keep your Mac secure with things like FileVault, the Password Assistant, and Tiger's enhanced Firewall capabilities. And because Mac OS X Tiger is Unix-based, you'll also learn how to issue basic Unix commands using the Terminal application. This handy book has over 250 tips and tricks for using and configuring your Mac OS X system, and has been completely revised to cover Mac OS X Tiger. Chuck Toporek has been using Macs since 1988, and is the author of Inside .Mac. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, cat, and far too many books.
Customer Reviews:
Dont be fooled by its size.......2007-05-20
Dont be fooled by its size, this book has been a tremoundos help, It is great if you dont know anything on Mac's. I have been able to do and set up thing's on my macbook I could not have done on my own. This is a book that should be in your colection. Go to Barnes and Noble and check it out for yourself, than come back to Amazon and get it way cheaper, you wont be sorry. Again this book is small but packs a punch of info.
a good quick reference.......2007-04-01
This book is an easy to carry around very good quisk reference for
setting up and using the OSx Tiger operating system.
The book covers most issues quite well.
Small enough to carry in your laptop case.
OK For Beginning Mac Users.......2006-11-10
This is a quick reference book, small and compact. It would be excellent for the first time Mac user. Something to quickly review and get started right away on the Mac. I would even reccomend it for age 12 and up.
For the first time adult Mac OS X user I would suggest something else like Max OS X by David Pogue.
Mac OS X Tiger: Pocket Guide.......2006-09-05
This book accomplishes it's task - that is to be a quick guide to the Mac OS X. It has many tips and keyboard shortcuts. It touches on a lot of subjects, but it doesn't go into any detail; for that, you'll have to look elsewhere. I found the book easy to read and helpful. I'm keeping it in my laptop bag, right next to my macBook. But I'm also purchasing an additional book to get a more in-depth understanding of Mac OS X.
IT's best friend!.......2006-08-19
This is not a beginners book. If you are looking for a book that explains how to double click or what an icon is, look elsewhere. The primary audience for this book is someone who is familiar with the Mac and wants to learn all the tips, tricks, and idiosyncricies of Tiger. This is the type of book someone working in a computer lab or at a help desk would turn to when you need a quick answer to a question. Every IT department should have a copy of this book available.
One of the greatest aspects of the book is Toporek's tables of keyboard shortcuts in every section. I generally like keeping my hands on the keyboard and every time I move to the mouse, time is wasted. If there is a way to do something, anything on the keyboard in Tiger, Toporek tells you. I found myself writing little post-it notes of shortcuts I never knew and now can't live without.
The book is extremely comprehensive, not just covering the Finder, but also applications and utilities, Unix, networking, and troubleshooting.
If I had to pick one book to be stranded on a dessert island with (of course that island would need wireless internet and electricity) it would be this book. I can't think of a real world question this book couldn't answer. Many of the sections were in a "How do I " style like "Change password for User Account?" or "Share a USB Printer over an Ethernet Network." Being a real world Tiger user, I can't think of a single question this book doesn't answer. I also found it handy when there were things I heard about in Tiger, but couldn't remember where they were or how to use them. For example, I know there's a program that will take pictures of the screen, but can't remember where it is. I can't search help if I don't know what I'm looking for. A quick flip through the Applications and Utilities section in the book helped me find what I was looking for.
This is not a tutorial book. Toporek states the "how to" do something without actually walking you through it and doesn't explain why he's telling you to do something. I like to think of this as a recipe book for using Tiger. Follow the recipe exactly and you'll be fine, but don't expect to be told why you must preheat the oven or make sure to temper the eggs when making custard.
I highly recommend this book for a intermediate Mac user who would rather look something up in a book then search for the answers in Google or call their tech savvy friends. I went out and bought one personally for myself I liked it so much!
Pros: Efficient and straightforward guide on how to use Tiger efficiently and effectively.
Cons: Not for the intro user, if you are looking for a bunch of pretty pictures and hand-holding--go elsewhere.
Book Description
- Aimed at the estimated 300,000 Mac OS X developers who are interested in customizing and creating widgets for their Dashboards, this timely book shows them how to tap into the power of Mac OS X Tiger to create and customize Dashboard widgets
- The expert author uses program examples and exercises to illustrate the different ways to customize the Dashboard through widget development using simple authoring tools, Internet plug-ins, and text editors
- Begins with a discussion of the Dashboard concept and configuration and progresses to coverage of advanced functionality
- Covers tools, protecting code, configuration, properties, bundles, resources, extensions, and much more
Book Description
Note-for-note transcriptions of Chris Carrabba's 2000 solo acoustic album, including: Again I Go Unnoticed * Age Six Racer * Living in Your Letters * Screaming Infidelities * and more.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome........2007-09-28
This book is awesome. It's got all the standard album songs. If you know how to read chord charts and know what the songs sound like, you can pick up Screaming Infidelities, Turpentine Chaser, or Living in Your Letters very quickly. If you don't, there's a page in the back that explains stuff. Some of the other songs are more difficult, but the book makes it as easy as possible. It sounds just like the album, if you get the tuning right - at least four songs use a tuning that sounds like a D5 chord with all strings open (which is why those songs are pretty easy). You can play along and won't be able to tell the difference. If it's just you and your acoustic guitar and you wanna play something, pick this book up. You won't be disappointed.
Great Ideas!.......2007-05-29
I play and write a lot so seeing how Chris Carrabba uses different tunings in his songs made me think of some new ideas. So far all the transcriptions have been accurate and helpful. Good stuff.
Very Goood!.......2007-01-28
The song book was very comprehensive. Just the tool I was looking for.
Average customer rating:
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Mac OS X Leopard for Starters: The Missing Manual
David Pogue
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
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Mac OS X Tiger: Missing Manual
ASIN: 0596510551 |
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