|
A quick perusal of her site will give you an idea of her target audience. She lists herself as America’s “Digital Goddess”. Personally I did get the impression from her shows that she doesn’t down play her good looks and pleasant voice. And one of the features of the CD book is the ability to listen to Kim read the book to you. There’s nothing wrong with a pleasant sounding female voice telling you how to avoid some common mistakes. And Kim does a good job of picking out 50 common computer mistakes, some of which, we have done ourselves. Installation and layoutThe CD requires only a Pentium, Windows 95 or higher and 64 mb of ram so it should run on just about any computer. You’ll need Adobe Acrobat, but Kim includes it on the CD and prompts you to install it if it’s not on your system. Once installed you get a nice icon of Kim’s smile to click on and open the “book”. The opening screen is similar to her website home page. You can read or listen to the book, install some of Kim’s favorite shareware, or visit Kim’s website. No software other than Adobe seems to reside on the CD. Instead, Kim leads you to her website shareware page, favorites link, etc. Not a bad idea actually, as new program versions and changing links can quickly make a CD obsolete. A pain if you are still on a dial up modem however. Content and DeliveryKim’s content covers some really basic but important “gotch ya’s” that we all have made at one time or another. From simple things like keeping the box your computer came in until your warranty is up, to more complex issues like security Kim gives you a basic understanding of 50 important computer topics. She has hyperlinks embedded in the Adobe formatted text to give you access to more info and / or a program she recommends which is helpful, but she never goes deep enough in the more complex issues to really instruct you on how to resolve a particular computer issue. The instruction is simple, take Kim’s tips to heart or suffer the consequences. And she has a fun way of reminding you she told you so. One point I really have to mention is that this CD is every 11 year old boys dream come true. Computers and a pretty woman! Kim’s voice and the many pictures of her sprinkled throughout the book would certainly be well received by the 8th grade boys in Danbury Jr. High. In other words, her style may not be for everyone. I have to admit, that I did both enjoy it and learn a thing or two. She has a good sense of humor that can make a dull subject like NTFS enjoyable and she speaks confidently about her advice. Take note of how she uses a negative approach to get her point across. Her chapters have titles like “Not making any backups”. She takes a thing we all know we should do—and don’t—and kind of wags her finger at us saying - here’s what will happen if you don’t. Then she tells you what you should do. She does have a unique approach! Here are the main sections:
Frank’s OpinionI would recommend this CD to my friends and family, but not my godson J. His father can buy it for him, but not me! Kim’s style may not be for everyone, but she covers all the mistakes that a new computer owner should be aware of, as well as many tidbits that even an old computer geek may have forgotten. I give Kim and her book thumbs up. Price: $19.95 at www.komando.com |
| Frank Powers has extensive digital music experience, working for companies like Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc and Sam Ash Music, as well as composing his own material and running an Internet radio station. Frank is available for digital music consulting and can be reached by email at: frank@franksamericana.com. You can find out more by visiting his website at http://www.franksamericana.com. He also can be heard on the Internet at Frank's Americana(tm) Live365( Internet Radio station at http://www.live365.com/stations/fpowers |
|
I’ve both seen Kim on TV and heard her on
a local AM radio station, so I was interested to see how her
brand of teaching came across in an electronic book. To give
you some idea of what Kin is all about, I recommend you visit
her website at: www.komando.com