Computers In Your Future, Brief Edition / Edition 5

About This Edition

You've made suggestions, and we've listened.

• You want the new edition of Computers in Your Future to be more current and streamlined than the fourth edition—but without forcing changes in the way you're teaching the course.
• You want choices in how much coverage is included in the book.
• You want a concepts book with great learning tools that hold your students' interest and reinforce critical material—but without causing them to lose focus.
• You want a text-specific, interactive Web site that enhances your students' learning ability—as long as they are lead intuitively to key information that is concise, intelligent, and clearly laid out.
• You want a Web site with additional resources and practice exercises that are valuable for your students.

Now available as an annual edition, Computers in Your Future 2003 brings a new design, updated coverage, completely new end of chapter materials, and a new accompanying Web site. This text is ready for the challenge of teaching even your most diversified class—without sacrificing quality, integrity, or choice. Computers in Your Future 2003 now comes in three versions—Brief, Introductory, or Complete—to meet the needs of your classroom.

The 2003 edition offers you flexibility and currency.

• Now available—three options for teaching: BRIEF, INTRODUCTORY, and COMPLETE. Our Brief version contains Chapters 1-8. Our Introductory version contains Chapters 1-12. And, for the full breadth of coverage, our Complete version offers Chapters 1-16.
• Newelectronic commerce Web case videos, E-COMMERCE IN ACTION, available on the Web site! Students follow PFSWeb, Inc., a company based in Piano, Texas, that helps e-commerce companies keep up with the online buying and selling marketplace in our six new videos. Each video is designed to introduce students to electronic commerce strategies and issues, including privacy, security, and ethics.
• SPOTLIGHT boxes highlight innovative thinking in each subject area. For example, Emerging Technologies and Ethics: Doing the Right Thing; as well as Buying and Upgrading Your Computer System and Creating a Web Page.
• IMPACTS boxes offer chapter-by-chapter insights on societal implications of computing. Students are introduced to thought-provoking bites of information to stimulate class discussion or team debates on all aspects of the impact technology is having on life today.
• CURRENTS boxes examine issues in computing as well as cutting-edge computer technology. Students learn about what's going to change the face of computing by the time they become professionals. Currents boxes include: The U.S. Software Industry and Software Quality: Another Detroit in the Making?; Universal Service: The End of an Era?; Telemedicine; and Spies in the Sky.
• The 2003 edition continues to emphasize computer FLUENCY. It's one thing to be computer literate, but it's quite another to be computer fluent. Computer literate people are skilled computer and Internet users; computer fluent people are able to navigate the digital world easily. Their knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles of computers and the Internet gives them tremendous advantage. The more computer fluent people work with computer technology, the deeper and richer their understanding grows. They also understand enough about computing to recognize the risks, as well as the benefits, of technology.
• CUTTING-EDGE topics. Some examples of cutting-edge topics covered are: Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Windows XP, open source software (including open source development and open source software licenses), information warfare, antitrust issues, digital copyrights and software patents.
• Significantly UPDATED chapters. Chapters 11 and 12 have been significantly updated, with additional coverage of privacy, security, and intellectual property issues.

For the Instructor

Instructor Resources

Instructor's Resource CD-ROM
The Instructor's Resource CD-ROM that is available with Computers in Your Future 2003 contains:

• Instructor's Manual in Word and PDF
• Solutions to all questions and exercises from the book and Web site
• PowerPoint lectures with PresMan software
• A Windows-based test manager and the associated test bank in Word format with over 1,500 Mew questions
• E-Commerce in Action video cases

Tools for Online Learning

Companion Website www.prenhall.com/pfaffenberger
This text is accompanied by a companion Web site. Features of this new site include the ability for you to customize your home page with real-time news headlines, current events, exercises, an interactive study guide, and downloadable supplements. The Web site will include additional end-of-chapter type materials including additional Web exercises. All links to Web exercises will be constantly updated to ensure accuracy for students.

ONLINE Courseware for Blackboard, WebCT, and CourseCompass
Now you have the freedom to personalize your own online course materials! Prentice Hall provides the content and support you need to create and manage your own online course in WebCT, Blackboard, or Prentice Hall's own CourseCompass. Content includes lecture material, interactive exercises, e-commerce case videos, additional testing questions, and projects.

CourseCompass www.coursecompass.com
CourseCompass is a dynamic, interactive online course-management tool powered exclusively for Pearson Education by Blackboard. This exciting product allows you to teach market-leading Pearson Education content in an easy-to-use, customizable format.

Blackboard www.prenhall.com/blackboard
Prentice Hall's abundant online content, combined with Blackboard's popular tools and interface, result in robust Web-based courses that are easy to implement, manage, and use-taking your courses to new heights in student interaction and learning.

WebCT www.prenhall.com/webct
Course management tools within WebCT include page tracking, progress tracking, class and student management, a grade book, communication tools, a calendar, reporting tools, and more. GOLD LEVEL CUSTOMER SUPPORT, available exclusively to adopters of Prentice Hall courses, is provided free of charge upon adoption and provides you with priority assistance, training discounts, and dedicated technical support.

Train IT & Assess IT: www.prenhall.com/phit
Prentice Hall offers Performance-Based Training and Assessment in one product, Train & Assess IT. The Training component offers computer-based training that a student can use to preview, learn, and review Microsoft Office applications and computer literacy skills. Delivered on CDROM or the Web, the training component offers interactive, multimedia, computer-based training to augment classroom learning. Built-in prescriptive testing suggests a study path based not only on student test results but also on the specific textbook chosen for the course. The assessment component offers computer-based testing that shares the same user interface and is used to evaluate a student's knowledge about specific topics in Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Windows, Outlook, and the Internet. It does this in a task-oriented environment to demonstrate proficiency as well as comprehension of the topics by the students.

EXPLORE IT: www.prenhall.com/phit
Prentice Hall offers computer-based training just for computer literacy. Designed to cover some of the most difficult concepts, as well as some current topical areas-EXPLORE IT is a Web and CD-ROM based product designed to complement a course. Available for free with any Prentice Hall title, our new lab coverage includes: Troubleshooting, Programming Logic, Mouse and Keyboard Basics, Databases, Building a Web Page, Hardware, Software, Operating Systems, Building a Network, and more!

For the Student

Welcome to Computers in Your Future 2003! The following pages are designed to help you get the most out of the material and make the learning process rewarding. We call your attention to areas that may help you as you read through the book. Please read on, and enjoy!

SPOTLIGHT sections highlight innovative thinking in each subject area.

IMPACTS boxes in each chapter illustrate thought-provoking cultural and societal implications of computing you may face.

CURRENTS boxes examine issues in computing and the cutting edge of computer technology.

TECHTALK margin notes define commonly heard computer jargon.

DESTINATIONS margin notes direct you to related Web sites where you can explore chapter topics in more depth.

END-OF-CHAPTER MATERIAL includes updated multiple choice, matching, fill-in, and short answer questions, as well as Web research projects so you can prepare for tests.

EXPLORE IT LABS present you with an interactive look into the world of computer concepts! These 16 labs bring challenging topics in computer concepts to life through interactivity and assess your knowledge via a Quiz section, which can be e-mailed, saved to disk, or printed.