Information Technology and Your Life . . .

Today we live in a digital world, where technology is fully intertwined with our daily lives. From our automobiles to our appliances, from our cell phones to our televisions, from our workplaces to our classrooms, computer technology is everywhere around us. This powerful juncture of computers, digital communications, and digital entertainment has already transformed our lives and will continue to rapidly–and radically–alter our world.

Completely updated with the latest technologies, Digital Planet: Tomorrow’s Technology and You, Tenth Edition, provides you with an understanding of information technology so you can successfully navigate change and advance into the future. To accomplish this, computers and information technology are explored on three levels:

1. Explanations–Clearly explains what a computer is and what it can (and can’t) do, along with the basics of information technology, from digital media to the Internet and beyond.

2. Applications–Illustrates how computers and networks are–and will be–used as practical tools to solve a wide variety of problems.

3. Implications–Puts computers in a human context, illustrating how information technology affects our lives, our world, and our future.

Digital Planet: Tomorrow’s Technology and You, Tenth Edition, goes beyond simply describing the latest technology. It explains the many benefits we derive and risks we accept when information technology enters our lives.

George Beekman is an Honorary Instructor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University. For more than two decades he designed and taught courses in computer literacy, interactive multimedia, computer ethics, and computer programming at OSU. His innovative computer literacy course served as the inspiration for Computer Currents, the first edition of the book that evolved into Digital Planet. George Beekman has taught workshops in computer literacy and multimedia for students, educators, and economically disadvantaged families from the Atlantic to Alaska. He has written many books on computers, information technology, and multimedia, as well as more than 100 articles and reviews for Macworld and other popular publications. George also bikes, hikes, and runs on Oregon trails and roads, produces and plays acoustic and electronic music, shoots and edits photos and videos, and cultivates community connections on and off line.

Ben Beekman is a multimedia designer, writer, and technical consultant based in Portland, Oregon. Ben has developed multimedia Web sites for businesses, nonprofits, artists, and musicians. He has done extensive desktop publishing, page layout, and design for periodicals and one-shot publications. He has written blogs for the Web and technology reviews for print media. He has worked behind-the-scenes on several books, and co-authored the last two editions of this one. Ben also composes, mixes, and remixes music and video, tracks the evolving Internet, consumes comedy, plays disc golf, and enjoys the outdoors with friends and his dog Gizmo.