Words to the Whys

By the end of this holiday season, thousands of people will have received something that they have no idea how to use: multimedia hardware. For every unwrapped CD-ROM drive, 28.8 modem, or fully loaded PC, there will be some happy fool digging potatoes out of his ear while attempting to figure out what to do with the beast once it's plugged in. Where are the happening web pages? Which on-line service is best? Which CD-ROM is worth the money? Here's one last gift guide-one that covers the books that set out to explain all things interactive.

Impressively Weighty Tomes That Tell You Everything About the Internet

The Whole Internet by Ed Krol. Originally published in 1992, this user's guide is already a levelheaded classic in its second edition. Whole is basic, it's thorough, it lists a wide range of useful and offbeat cybersites to visit, and it's the only general-purpose book to deal in any depth with the World Wide Web and Mosaic, the tools by which most of us will probably end up using the Internet. Oh, yes — it's one user's guide that you can access on the Internet as well (http://nearnet. gnn.com/gnn/wic/index.html). A

The Internet Unleashed Big as a Manhattan phone book and about as much fun to read, this is still a handy reference guide for those times when you want more horrid details than The Whole Internet offers. Assets: The various authors cover everything, from getting a Net account to setting up your own Gopher server. Debits: They assume you want your own Gopher server. B+

How the Internet Works by Joshua Eddings and How To Use The Internet by Mark Butler. Ziff-Davis puts out a whole series of glossy paperbacks that use E-Z illustrations to help mere mortals understand the world of computers. How the Internet Works makes clear the problems with that approach: The strange metaphorical cartoons of concepts such as Usenet and terminal emulation make far less sense than the text (and that is one ugly Gopher). How to Use the Internet gets much of the same information across with clearer drawings and a get-out-there-and-do-it approach. The two can be purchased together for $39.95, but only one is worth your money. How the Internet Works: C- How to Use the Internet: B+

Flashy Newcomers That Tell You the Latest Places to Go on the Internet

NET.SPEAK: The Internet Dictionary by Tom Fahey. The world of the Internet is one of proudly abstruse acronyms and incomprehensible geek-speak, which this slim paperback translates into something approximating the mother tongue. And hilarious short articles illuminate the more subtle nooks of Net culture. Study it as you lurk (page 116). B+

Net Guide, Net Games, and Net Chat It's a mark of how insanely fast the Internet is evolving that Net Guide came out in January of this year and is already out of date. Net Games covers the comparatively narrow world of on-line gaming, while the just-released Net Chat deals with newsgroups, on-line forums, and the stray web page, covering topics as varied as religion and kinky sex. It's not a book for the kiddies, but it is probably the best surfer's guide out there — at least for the next several months. Net Guide: B Net Games: B+ Net Chat: A