What's New

• New chapter on personal technology: Chapter 7, a brand-new chapter, describes fast-changing personal technologies— from podcasting to smartphones—and their effects.
• More “What's in it for me?” student questions: More “I” and “me” questions, of the type students ask, have been added—and answered in the book.
• Expanded coverage of communications: Because the subject of communications and networks has exploded, the authors have greatly increased topic coverage—on everything from Bluetooth to ZigBee, from EV-DO to Z-Wave (Chapters 2, 6).
• More on computer self-defense: Explanations from spoofing, phishing, and pharming to online bullies, botnets, and zombies (Chapters 2, 6, 9).

Retained Features

Text is designed to MOTIVATE THE UNMOTIVATED AND TEACH TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPUTER SOPHISTICATION, using four features:
1. Practicality
2. Readability
3. Currentness
4. Three-level critical thinking system

These four principal features are elaborated on below.

1. Emphasis on PRACTICALITY: Practical advice, of the sort found in newspaper technology sections, is expressed in the following ways:

• End-of-chapter Experience Boxes: e.g., “Web Research, Term Papers, & Plagiarism”; “The Mysteries of Tech Support”; “Preventing Your Identity from Getting Stolen”
• In-chapter Practical Action boxes: i.e. e.g., “Managing Your Email”; “Tips for Avoiding Spyware”
• Survival Tips in page margins: e.g., “Recycling Old PCs”; ”Data Recovery”
• How to understand a computer ad: Hardware concepts explained in terms of a hypothetical PC ad (on p. 195)

2. Emphasis on READABILITY & LEARNING REINFORCEMENT: The text offers several features for motivating and helping unmotivated students:

• Interesting writing: colorful anecdotes, biographical sketches, real-people quotes
• Material in bite-size portions
• Key terms AND definitions all in boldface
• “What’s in it for me?” questions to help students read with purpose
• Study skills box—“Better Organization & Time Management”—at end of Chap. 1
• Photos showing unusual and interesting computer uses
• Pedagogically helpful artwork, , including 8 timelines to provide historical perspective
• Innovative end-of-chapter summaries that describe why a concept or term is important
• Ethics icons in page margins highlight important ethical matters throughout the book
• Security icons in page margins indicate instances of security-related material

3. Emphasis on CUTTING-EDGE CURRENCY: Users and reviewers have applauded previous editions for being more up to date than other texts. For example, many chapters end with a forward-looking section that offers a preview of technologies to come.

• Examples of new material: Apple video iPod, desktop search engines, EDGE, EVDO, Evil Twin attacks, HD radio, HDTV, HomePlug, HomePNA, ICANN 2.0, Mac OS X Tiger, mesh technologies, moblogs, multicore processors, RSS aggregators, smartphones, WiMax, Windows Vista, wireless USB, Xen, Z-Wave.
• “More Info!” icons: These Internet-related margin items take currentness to another level by encouraging students to obtain their own updates and answers about material—e.g., “Finding Wi-Fi Hot Spots”; “Blog Search Engines.” These items teach students search skills and provide more information about specific topics.

4. THREE-LEVEL REVIEW SYSTEM helps students think critically about Information Technology: The end-of-chapter Chapter Review has been significantly revised to better implement the 3-stage pedagogical approach (based on “Bloom's Taxonomy”) to help students take ownership of material. The 3 stages include:

• Stage 1 — Memorization: Review of key terms and facts
• Stage 2 — Comprehension: Review of concepts
• Stage 3 — Applying, Analyzing, Synthesizing, Evaluating: Critical thinking exercises and projects, including Web exercises.