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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Rough Guides
Kirby's Korner · July 7, 2000

Rough Guides is a series of guide books that started in the travel field and has gradually expanded into other areas.

The company has the reputation, somewhat like Lonely Planet, of having an attitude -- perhaps aimed at student travelers but certainly applicable to those of us who want to get away from settled places as we travel -- of highlighting distinct and off-the-beaten-path locations in distant destinations.

If its entry into the Internet guidebook business is any indication, Rough Guides should start marketing itself along with the stogiest companies around.

Rough Guide to the Internet carries the expected cudos in the first few pages of the text, from traditional media outlets such as Newsweek and the Kansas Morning Star but also from supposedly Internet-savvy ventures such as Internet Magazine and MacWorld. The company's Web site has even more kudos. I'd like to digress from this lovefest.

As I suggested in my last book review, the problem may not be with the book. As with The Complete Idiot's Guide to Planning a Trip Online, the problem with Rough Guide to the Internet may be the audience the book is targeted at. If you've managed to get online, I suspect you don't need a printed book to tell you what you'll get there.

Don't get me wrong. I'm one of those "old media" types who prefers to learn a new software program with the (increasingly disappearing) instruction manual in my lap. But I've become to believe that any printed book related to Internet travel -- or to the Internet itself -- is hopelessly out of date the day it appears.

Take the World Wide Web section of the Rough Guides book. A hundred and fifty pages of a 500-page book dedicated to the Web. I'm as big a fan as anyone is of other online options, but I suspect new users are trying to understand how to log on to Travelocity.com or Expedia. They ignore the multitude of quirky travel sites, which Rough Guides should have mentioned. And they ignore the other Internet options outlined by Rough Guides, including Usenet.

If you want to give a friend or relative or a client who is thinking of going online a gift, by all means suggest the Rough Guide to the Internet. If they're barely online but want to focus on travel, suggest The Complete Idiot's Guide to Planning a Trip Online.

If you want to suggest some real travel content, try Ticked.com or a general portal such as Yahoo!

David Kirby is the editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.