Take a leap outside the fishbowl…

There’s a whole great big blue ocean out there! We all have to use computers all the time these days—best you know what you’re doing. Don’t worry, everyone else has been faking it too, but the world moves on, the young’uns are all tech savvy as soon as they can talk and your confused and chaotic clicking is starting to show.

It’s time to empower yourself. It all starts with a single step.

You are not a dummy!

There’s hundreds of books out there sold on the premise that their readers are idiots. You’ve just made a brave decision to empower yourself by tackling a difficult subject—being called a dummy for your trouble is a little insulting!

I’ve always wanted a book on computers I could recommend to people that they could just sit down and read and suddenly everything would make sense. Despite the huge number of technical manuals and how-to books out there, none of them seem to accomplish this in anything approaching a simple or straightforward way.

If you want it done properly…

Drawing on more than 10 years of technology teaching and consulting and spurred on by a lifelong interest in technology, history and sociology, I decided to take up the task myself.

The result is The Digital Migrant — a guide to technology for the curious and confused. It’s designed to be clear, precise, enjoyable and able to be read cover to cover like a novel.

The next few slides explain what’s in each chapter. See if it sounds like something that’s for you…

Chapter 1

10 Kinds of People

It all starts here, with the little molecules of computerdom on which everything runs—ones and zeroes. You may have heard this before, or seen lots of digits zipping around in fancy sci-fi animation sequences, but has anyone taken the time to explain to you how it actually works?

Once you understand the way everything on a computer—pictures, programs, sounds—is really made up of ones and zeroes, the world will become much clearer.

Chapter 2

Ins and Outs

I like to think of all the parts of a computer as one big family—they’re not necessarily who you would’ve chosen given the chance, everyone has their quirks and some can go without talking to others for years at a time. But you’re all stuck with each other and you have to make it work somehow.

That’s a computer. This chapter is about meeting the family, remembering (and forgetting) names, finding out who the crazy uncle is and who really runs the show.

Chapter 3

The Cloud

No doubt you’ve heard of that new-fangled ‘internet’ thing. At least we’re not calling it the Information Superhighway anymore. All the cool kids call it the cloud these days. But whatever it’s called, it’s a really big deal. For everyone.

This chapter is about where it came from, so we’ll be starting the story in Egypt, 300BC. It’s also about how it works, what it is and more importantly what it isn’t. Oh, and you’ll learn how Google finds things for you too and why sometimes it doesn’t.

Chapter 4

Turf Wars

Not all computers are created equal. In the chapter most likely to provoke angry email to the author, you’ll find out why Windows causes migraines, why Apple fans shouldn’t be so smug and why nobody knows what Linux is.

There is a lot of misinformation out there on the subject of which computer to buy and why. This chapter is an attempt to give you the information you need to make up your own mind, as well as a colourful commercial history of the big technology players.

Chapter 5

Mostly Harmless

I once taught a man who had lived in Antarctica for several years but who was scared of using a computer in case it caught a virus. The level of fear and uncertainty surrounding the topic of computer security never ceases to amaze me.

Sure, there’s bad stuff out there and some of it is very serious indeed. But that’s life. Learn some street skills, know the risks and leave the fear at home. This chapter helps make sense of the murky world of computer security.

Chapter 6

Six Degrees

This is where it all comes together. What do computers mean for everyday life and society as a whole? What can they ultimately be and what can we be with their help?

Computers are often depicted as dehumanising machines which encourage antisocial behaviour. Looking around at how technology is empowering everyday people around the world, this final chapter makes the opposite claim—that computers can in fact bring us back in touch with each other and with ourselves.

Get Your Copy Now

Like what you see? Take the next step towards clear, confident computing and order your copy of The Digital Migrant today, available in paperback and e-book formats.

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