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Subject:Re: Dummies books and more on "Idiot Audience" From:"Bergen, Jane" <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 17 Nov 1997 12:12:16 -0600
Boy, do I heartily agree with Eric on this one. I think the Dummies
series is the greatest thing to come along in a long, long time. They
are immensely popular with those who are not prone to take themselves
too seriously, nor are they always for complete novices. For example, I
used one title, "Desktop Publishing for Dummies" by Roger Parker (a DTP
guru), in a DTP course I taught. It laid everything out very nicely and
included all the basics plus one or two things that even the "teacher"
(;-0) had missed.... I have at least half dozen of these titles, ranging
from "Fitness for Dummies" to "Personal Finance for Dummies" and several
computer-related ones.
I don't know what the IDG criteria is for selecting these manuscripts,
or how much in-house editing they do to make the light-hearted approach
work across all the titles, but it somehow works. If someone is turned
off by the titles, that someone takes himself/herself far too seriously,
or perhaps is insecure. Lighten up, folks. You never "know it all" ---
contrary to some beliefs.
One caveat, however: the "Idiot" series is, INMNSHO, is not as good as
the "Dummies" series, nor quite so evenly presented, but some of the
titles are not bad. The word "idiot" is probably more offensive, too,
than the word "dummies." Why not use something more generic like the
"Quick and Dirty Guide to ...." or something *like* "Cliff Notes Guide
to ....."?
On Monday, November 17, 1997 11:25 AM, Eric J. Ray
[SMTP:ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM] wrote:
>
> Title notwithstanding (and I'll confess to posting EXACTLY what
> Dave just said only a few years ago), Dummies books aren't
> for dummies. They're for people who want basic, step by step
> instructions in a specific area--domain, if you will--in which they
> have little or no experience.
>
> Dummies books handle audience analysis partially through
> self-selection--an expert or purported expert won't buy them--
> and partially through assuming _nothing_ but doing so in a
> __NON-patronizing__ manner. Cover aside, there's nothing
> patronizing about the content or presentation.
I'm not sure I agree that an "expert won't buy them" -- maybe the book
would not be useful for a lot of "new" information, but it certainly
condenses and organizes the material in a way that can be helpful to
instructors or presenters.
Jane
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer,
AnswerSoft, Inc. Richardson, TX
(972) 997-8355
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
