Reviews on the second edition at Amazon.com. (There are also reviews on the first edition at Amazon.com, including an amusing mirror in miniature of the Internet's feedback cycle: comments posted largely to flame a clueless comment! Also reviews on the first edition at Barnes & Noble.com.)
"In early 1998, when I learned that DVD Demystified had been published,
was the very first time I began to feel there was proof that DVD was heading for
success. I met with Jim in San Francisco later and got his book with his
autograph. It sits nicely on my shelf as a monumental book that gave me the
confidence that we are doing the right thing. His new edition, as a reference to
executives and engineers, will surely add stability for the ever-growing DVD
market."
-- Koji Hase Acting Chairperson of the DVD Forum Vice President, Strategic
Alliance Division, Digital Media Network Company, Toshiba Corporation
"Jim Taylor's DVD Demystified is without doubt the definitive reference
book on DVD. DVD Demystified is aptly titled. Jim Taylor takes a subject
that is still mired in confusion and lays all the cards on the table. He then
proceeds to describe each card in a detailed but easy to understand style."
-- Book review
by Bob Starret for One-to-One magazine.
"DVD Demystified is one of the few commercial publications about DVD
available so far. I don't see what anybody else can possibly write. The author,
Jim Taylor, appears to have thought of everything. He packed so much information
into this one book that I'm sure your brain would explode if you read it in one
sitting."
-- Bob at TEAM DVD
"Offering something for the casual user as well as the hard-core geek, DVD
Demystified ranks as the single best collection of information on what
may be the next big thing in data storage. Author Jim Taylor covers
consumer-electronics applications (DVD-Video) as well as computing uses
(DVD-ROM) of digital video disc (DVD) technology and explains the big picture as
well as the technical details."
--David Wall, Amazon.com review
A Model 'For the Millions' Book About DVD and HDTV
"This book is excellent for both techies writing for DVD applications and
people like me who just like to follow new communications/digital technologies.
It is written in a relaxed, lucid, coherent style which trusts the intelligence
of the reader while not overwhelming the neophyte with tech-talk. The
discussions of how DVD differs from CD ROM, screen aspect ratios, red and blue
lasers, and storage capacity are all first rate."
-- Louis Massano, Barnes & Noble.com review
"This is not merely 'a' good book to help you make sense of DVD, it is
'the' book that you will return to over and over as you explore and come to
understand this exciting new optical media format."
-- Geoffrey Tully, Multimedia Technology Consultant; former Senior VP of
Production, Divx Entertainment
"In DVD Demystified, Jim Taylor combines the technical expertise
of an engineer with the imagination of a visionary. This book is a must read for
those who require factual information about the great potential of DVD
technology for delivering digital video content."
-- Dana Parker,
contributing Editor for E-Media Professional & coauthor of the CD
Recordable Handbook.
"DVD Demystified is required reading for everyone involved in
DVD. If you are new to the DVD business this book will save you time and money.
If you are an old hand at DVD, this is an excellent reference book for those
times when you just cant remember a critical detail. As one of the DVD
industry's leading experts, Jim Taylor covers every aspect of DVD."
-- Ralph LaBarge, Managing Partner, Alpha DVD
"A clear and intelligent guide to DVD, and a valuable reference for
anyone who wants to take full advantage of the technology."
-- Kamer Davis, Senior Vice President, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
"Required reading for both novices and professionals interested in the
fundamentals of DVD, and required reading for all InterActual employees."
-- Todd Collart, President & CEO, InterActual Technologies, Inc.
"DVD Demystified is the clearest source of real information about
DVD."
-- Mike Schmit, Software Manager, Zoran.
"This book will make you more knowledgeable--and more dangerous--than the DVD
salesman's worst nightmare."
-- Chad Fogg, Digital Video Architect, Chromatic Research
"It's not often that you can take a technology-oriented book and
actually enjoy reading it from cover to cover. The much-overused sales blurb 'A
page-turner' really applies to your book."
-- Dr. Tim Pietzcker, Uniklinik Ulm, Abt. für Med.
Mikrobiologie und Hygiene
"The book looks good when you flip through the pages, but when it comes
down to finding usefull [sic] information, it lacks. The book is typical of many
of the 'technical' books we see nowdays [sic] that are composed by techie
writers who are more interested in the number of words that they write rather
than the content and usefullness [sic] of the book (in my opinion). There ae
[sic] 100+ pages of glossary and "Companies and Resources". The
section "Copyright Protection & CSS Licensing" is particularly
bad, it describes the flow of information, but leaves out any description of
what is done with the information. The reader encounters the term "bus
obfuscation", but is never told exactly what this means. In conclusion, I
feel that the book could have been quite usefull, [sic] but instead (in my opinion)
the author spent too much time on including tables and graphs without providing
enough detailed explanations."
-- D. Downing, Fatbrain.com review
Jim's response: Indeed, the CSS section in the first edition was vague because most of the process was secret at the time it was written.
"An excellent and (as it turns out) insightful work! In light of the
recent DeCSS situation, I consulted your book and found it to do a great job of
covering the topic of copy protection, including predictions as to the fate of
CSS."
-- Martin Lindsay, Dolby Labs
From page 297 of the first edition, written in 1997: "The CSS algorithm and keys are supposed to be a "very big secret," but anyone who thinks it will remain a secret for long is delusional. It's inevitable that the algorithm will be broken, the keys will be compromised, and the entire system will be laid out in detail on the Internet, perhaps next to the instructions on how to build nuclear weapons."
"If you are in the information business and making hardware
purchases, you need this book..."
-- Library Journal