Dear Computer User:
There must be hundreds of instructional materials on the market today that are designed to teach you about your computer.
What makes this one different?
- It was written in plain English.
- The authors don't think you are a moron.
- It gives practical advice on what you can do with your computer NOW.
- It provides information for every level of interest in computer-ology.
This is a program designed for you, your mother, your great-aunt, your nephew. It can be understood by everyone. It makes changing the settings on your computer as easy as changing the setting on your thermostat.....not as hard as programming your VCR! It begins with the assumption that, to novice computer users, this machine is magic and they don't want to mess it up! A computer responds so quickly to input that it seems to beginners that every time they even look at the computer, something changes and they "didn't do nothin'; it just happened!" And computer repairs are inconvenient and expensive.
It has been our experience that as folks upgrade their computers, they pass on their old systems to Grandma or to Cousin Joe who is just beginning high school or to some other friend or relative. Well, cousin Joe might want to become the next Bill Gates and he wants to know everything there is to know about computers but Grandma only wants to know how to send and receive E-mail and maybe play a game or two. Cousin Joe will have the computer in pieces and Grandma will be afraid to mess something up. They both need some help! And you don't always have the time to spend with them to provide that help (assuming you can put the computer back together for Joe)!
That's where this program can help. It is designed for Grandma who needs to learn more so that she can actually USE the computer but who doesn't want a whole lot of technical jargon. But it's also designed to provide information and terminology for Cousin Joe who is so eager to learn about computers.
(The above comments are not intended to disparage or insult or belittle all the Grandmothers out there! After all, there are some Grandmothers pretty close to home here, too!)
There's nothing like information and experience to ease fears and build confidence. As we have learned, the more you can do with your computer, the more valuable it is to you and the more enjoyment you get from it.
How To... explains basic computer skills from what "Click Here" means and how to navigate through a file to creating shortcuts and file management. It's easy, it's fun, it takes things one step at a time. It is designed for the beginner who doesn't "need to know" technical jargon but who wants to be able to "use" a computer. /p>
Personalize Your Computer gives clear and illustrated lessons in the ways you can change your computer to reflect YOU. With just a few mouse clicks, you can change what you see and what you hear! You can add to your computer and learn what Windows 98 has to offer.
Getting to Know Your Computer conducts you through a tour of your computer. It explains the language of computers and its parts. It tells you about the hardware you own, how to take care of it and how to change it, if necessary. And how it all works together, along with software, to allow you to use your computer for a variety of purposes. It will give you the basic knowledge needed to converse with confidence about computers.
Each section is designed as a "stand-alone" and is not dependent on the others. Each will provide you with something different and hopefully something new.
Occasionally you'll be given the opportunity to get more information on a particular subject by "clicking" on a link which will take you to one of the other sections; for example from Personalize Your Computer to How-To...
The easiest way to return to the previous screen (to get back to Personalize Your Computer) is to use the Back Button at the upper left hand side of your screen. It looks like this:
We'll remind you as we go along.
If you are already comfortable with your computer, with moving files and creating folders, etc., you might be tempted to skip How To... And you can certainly do so. However, there may be other ways of doing things that you've never seen before or issues that you haven't thought about. It's worth perusing.
And you may not want or feel that you need technical information to use your computer. In that case, you can skip Getting to Know Your Computer. But there's lots of valuable, understandable and interesting information in those files, written in plain English.
So we recommend that you at least look over all three sections. After all, you "paid" for all of them....what do you have to lose?
So, let's get busy.
To go to the MAIN MENU, click here
P.S. This material was originally written to be put on a CD for distribution. Since we never did get it "finished" to our satisfaction, we are now putting it on our website instead. Please ignore any references to "this CD".
