{"id":652,"date":"2009-06-12T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2009-06-12T07:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/?p=652"},"modified":"2009-06-11T19:55:19","modified_gmt":"2009-06-12T02:55:19","slug":"missing-the-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"Missing the Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was on the road this past week.
\n
\nAs was expected, this past week brought the breaking news of the new iPhone. It wasn’t really a surprise, as all the Mac fanboys were expecting it. I’m happy about the new iPhone features, but like many others I’m kinda bummed that the device lacks a “front-facing” camera. That would have allowed easy video chat. Picture phones exist, but a picture iPhone would be awesome. I’ll have to wait for that. (And I predict it’s coming.)<\/p>\n

While I was gone I got a chance to address a group of fans at the Nantucket Atheneum<\/a>, located in Nantucket, Massachusetts. I spoke about how the For Dummies<\/em> series started and where it is now. It was a good talk and a lot of people had questions.<\/p>\n

The most common question I get is that the For Dummies<\/em> books rarely hit their true target of the absolute \u2014 and frightened \u2014 beginner. I agree.<\/p>\n

These days, For Dummies<\/em> books are general references. They are not “for the rest of us.” While the information in a For Dummies<\/em> book isn’t technical, and it’s (supposedly) light-hearted, it’s just too complex and advanced for many readers. That’s too bad. I’d like to address the issue, but the publisher probably would frown on it.<\/p>\n

For Dummies<\/em> books are “category killers.” People don’t pick up Windows For Dummies<\/em> or Word For Dummies<\/em> and expect an easy, hand-holding, steady-paced guide. They want a general reference. They want all<\/em> the information.<\/p>\n

The publisher would dislike it if I devoted 80 percent of my book to explaining basic topics. They would say, “You forgot to cover this feature” or something similar. That’s because reaching a larger market is more important to them than addressing the purpose that launched the entire series in the first place: Good information for people who want to know, but are frustrated. That market exists, but it doesn’t blow up the publisher’s skirt.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: I hear you. While I can’t redirect the behemoth that has become the For Dummies<\/em> line, I can address readers needing better information in other venues. Stay tuned to the Wambooli home page for my future efforts. I promise not to disappoint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was on the road this past week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}