Peter Meyers
O’Reilly Press
O’Reilly Publishing provided me access to an electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
The bad thing about purchasing the first generation of a device is the lack of material written on how to find all of the hidden features and best use the product. Sure tech geeks and hackers try all kinds of things as soon as they can, but what about the average person that just wants to use the device? And that’s the best thing about this book. It’s written for the nongeek/nontechie so that they can figure out what they can do with the device and the best way to use it.
Written in a clear easy format, Peter includes step by step instructions for navigating the Kindle Fire and provides copious illustrations to help you make sure you’re in the right place. Peter provides information on:
- How to get started with the device
- How to get materials on your fire from ebooks to magazines to newspapers
- How to watch movies
- How to add music to the device
- How to open documents such as PDFs and Word files (and more)
- And perhaps most importantly to readers not familiar with apps, how to find them, load them, and use them.
- Lastly the appendixes, which provide a number of helpful hints on troubleshooting the device such as getting/using wifi.
One of the things I liked most about the book is that Peter offered feedback on common criticisms of the Kindle Fire, such as the location of the power button, and ways to avoid the problems that people are complaining about, which is a nice addition to the book. My one quibble about Peter’s writing style is that in a few places he mentions something, such as the startup bar, but then says he’ll explain what that is in a few pages. It just caught me off guard that there wasn’t an explanation right on that page and I can see that giving some readers trouble. Overall though it’s written in a logical, easy to follow, straightforward format.
This book is perfect for that person just entering the world of tablets and isn’t quite sure what to do with one. It’s also a good book, even for the tech savvy, to see many of the things that the Kindle Fire can do. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.
