Message-ID: <1762@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 27-Oct-84 03:50:23 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.1762
Posted: Sat Oct 27 03:50:23 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Oct-84 07:13:14 EST
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Nf-ID: #N:inmet:5800064:000:1154
Nf-From: inmet!rgh    Oct 25 23:02:00 1984

"The Whole Earth Software Catalog", Stewart Brand, Editor-in-Chief,
Quantum Press/Doubleday, 1984, soft cover, $17.50.
Enthusiastic review follows:

The Whole Earth Software Catalog is the best single book I've seen on
personal computers.  It provides reviews and recommendations for
programs in 11 "domains":  Playing, Writing, Analyzing, Organizing,
Accounting, Managing, Drawing, Telecommunicating, Programming, 
Learning, and Etc.  (e.g. online cookbooks and music synthesis
programs).  The reviews are less detailed but more comparative
than typical magazine reviews.

It also contains useful sections on hardware and buying, the latter
offering not only general tips but specific recommendations for
mail-order houses.  Books and magazines, databases and telecommunications
services, modems, printers, and monitors  are all reviewed and
recommended.  Information is pretty up-to-date:  the editorial closing
date was mid-June.  It is extensively illustrated with photos of
screens, many of them in full color.  In addition to a general index,
there are indices of products for specific computers. 

    Randy Hudson
    {ihnp4,harpo,ima}!inmet!rgh

Message-ID: <369@hoxna.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 28-Oct-84 17:03:24 EST
Article-I.D.: hoxna.369
Posted: Sun Oct 28 17:03:24 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Oct-84 03:11:09 EST
References: <1762@inmet.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 10

xxx
I saw this book in a bookstore recently.  I didn't spend much time
looking at it, but I didn't like what I saw.  It seemed too
oriented toward BUYING things with too little information on DOING
things.  Granted, product reviews are much simpler to write, but
most people buy personal computers to DO things, not to BUY more
hardware and software.
-- 
Kenton Lee, Bell Labs - WB 1D302, x7178
{ihnp4 or allegra or cbosg}!hoxna!kfl

Message-ID: <400022@iuvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 30-Oct-84 00:18:00 EST
Article-I.D.: iuvax.400022
Posted: Tue Oct 30 00:18:00 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Oct-84 00:32:06 EST
References: <1762@inmet.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:inmet:-176200:iuvax:400022:000:553
Nf-From: iuvax!apratt    Oct 29 00:18:00 1984


I would like to point out that the development of the Whole Earth Software
Catalog was, in part, an experiment in distributed processing: using DIALOG,
with its remote-conferencing (newsgroup-style), the Whole Earth people
got submissions from all over the country for their catalog. There was
discussion of format, content, and style, as well as submissions of actual
reviews for possible inclusion. So the Whole Earth Software Catalog was,
in fact, a computer-aided project from start to finish.

						-- Allan Pratt
					...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!apratt