Great Fire Starting Material
I am an avid Mac user and I have purchased other "Visual QuickProject" books from PeachPit Press that I found very useful training tools. That was until this one which was an absolute waste of money. The book starts out good and you believe that the book is going to walk you through the actual process of creating a nice Keynote presentation. At the end of Chapter 2 you are left high and dry with only 2 slides created. You are never given any more information to create the rest of the slides. Really sad !
Then thoughout the book you are shown a mutitude of other products that are suggested to you to buy. Really sad ! None are needed to use Keynote !
Save your money and do not buy this book which is a total waste of money !
If ZERO stars were possible...
The only honor this book is worthy of is that of the fireplace... Here's why:
1) This book provides virtually ZERO hands-on training for the reader. The only hands-on exercises that you will get to try out is found in chapter two, in which you create a blank, Keynote presentation file (for the first time), and type in five lines of text -- and that's IT!! No, I am not joking... That's it.
2) The book focuses upon a "show and tell" (with zero practice or hands-on exercises) approach. It uses 3rd party templates, which don't come with either the software [Keynote] or the book. This keeps you from being able to try any of the concepts presented.
3) The book focuses mainly upon the "theory" of creating a presentation, rather than on teaching you how to use Keynote. I wanted to learn Keynote, not the theory of public speaking.
4) The book's chapters are filled with commerials, prompting you to purchase 3rd party products. This book (at times) looks more like the classifieds section of a newpaper than a training publication. If you don't want to believe me -- please go and check it out for yourself! Page numbers are included!!
a) Page 18 -- Asks you to buy OmniOutliner. (Which is not needed. Keynote provides this same functionality, but he doesn't take the time or effort to teach you how to do it.)
b) Page 25 -- Use (and purchase) Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, so you can use their clipart.
c) Page 26 -- Buy sounds and music from soundrangers at $1.50 per song, etc.
d) Page 27 -- Buy more stuff from Hemera, NovaDevelopment, and DigitalJuice, etc.
e) Page 28 -- Buy Garageband from Apple, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea.
Normally, I like to give books a positive rating -- as a college-level, computer science teacher for more than 10 years, I have dealt with many of such book publications. However, I honestly cannot give this book even one star -- it has failed to even begin to meet its' stated objectives on the back cover.
My advice, if you truly want to learn, PLEASE LOOK TO A DIFFERENT BOOK. This is not the one you are looking for.
Readable, well designed, and entertaining
In the 20 years I have been using Macintosh computers, I have always been leery of third-party Mac books. So often they are no more than laundry list recitations of a product's features. I am sure for some users that's a useful way to learn and a useful reference, but it's a lousy book to read for me, and of very little use. For that reason, Negrino's book is a welcome anomaly in this field. Written with an engaging style that is neither too familiar nor too dry, this book presents a wide range of capabilities of Apple's Keynote 2 in a manner that encourages exploration, emphasizes application, and rewards curiosity.
Negrino's enthusiasm comes through clearly, and that is a welcome trait among Apple users, where enthusiasm for Jobs & Co. and their creations is a prerequisite. He is not dogmatic, however, so his advice includes a healthy dose of caution regarding some oddities and shortcomings of Keynote. I found his examples to map easily to decisions I make in my presentations.
The book itself is slim, but not in a bad way. I think it reflects focus on the part of the author and his editor, Nancy Davis. I admired the evident effort in crafting the book, along with the layout that avoids being dull but shys away from being distracting, as well.
As a side note, Negrino's interactions with the Keynote user community online reflects his genuine desire to learn how to derive the most benefit from the program. His openness to suggestions and ideas from those who seek to extend Keynote as far as possible allows him to write in a very authoritative manner about a program that can dazzle when wielded skillfully.
I really look forward to my next presentation - between Keynote and this book, I have no doubts it will be my best yet.
Great overview for Beginners!
Even though Negrino's book is over 130 pages, I was able to read through it rather quickly. I think the best way to use this book is to read through it quickly away from the computer to get an overview, then go back, book in hand, and sit in front of your machine with Keynote2 launched.
This book takes you through an actual presentation, and shows a lot of pictures as well as being easy to read.
Although I am not a beginner (this book is geared toward beginners), I learned a few tricks that will be valuable to me down the line.
I would highly recommend Negrino's other Keynote title, Visual Quickstart Guide once it comes out for Keynote2. If it is as good as his VQSG for Keynote1, it will be a purchase well made.
(4 reviews)
