Peachpit
Encyclopedia
Peachpit is an educational publisher
and has been publishing books, PDFs, and videos on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986. Peachpit is the home of the Visual QuickStart Guide, Visual QuickPro Guide, Take Control of..., and Classroom in a Book series, and the design imprint New Riders and its Voices That Matter series. Peachpit is the publishing partner for Adobe Press at Adobe Systems
, lynda.com
, NAPP, Apple Certified at Apple Inc, AIGA
Design Press and others.
and Michael Gardner, and the two co-authored the company's first book, LaserJet Unlimited. Gardner served on the board of the company from 1986 to 1994 but did not take an active role in the company. Nace and Gardner named the company Peachpit because at the time, Nace and several of his friends were "living and working in a peach colored house in Berkeley that was such a dump it was considered a 'pit.'" Computer writer Elaine Weinmann described how Nace let authors typeset and illustrate their own books and described his publishing approach as user-friendly and innovative. The company grew in size and sales, and had a publishing orientation towards books relating to Apple computers, and was described as a leader in books about digital graphics. Nace served as publisher from 1986 until 1996, when Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel assumed the publisher position. In 1994, Nace sold Peachpit Press to London-based media conglomerate Pearson PLC
. Peachpit Press continues to operate out of Berkeley today.
Although known as a Mac
publisher Peachpit started out publishing Windows
related books. Its first Macintosh books were The Little Mac Book and The Mac is not a typewriter, both by writer Robin Williams. In 1992, Peachpit purchased the Macintosh Bible series from Arthur Naiman's Goldstein and Blair
(aptly named after characters in the George Orwell
novel 1984
). Peachpit became popular with the Mac community via its strong outreach and support of user groups. In 1998, when Apple user share was down to 4% of the computer user market and Power Computing was making Mac clones
, Peachpit was still publishing a large portion of its books in the Mac space. Peachpit’s popularity with Mac users grew even stronger with its Visual QuickStart Guides.
, Deke McClelland
, Ted Nace
, Steve Roth, Scott Kelby
, Robin Williams
, Don Rittner
, Joe McNally
, Larry Magid
, Steve Krug, Jeffrey Zeldman
, Jakob Nielsen
, Bruce Schneier
, Fred Davis
, Seth Godin
, Gary Wolf
, Lynda Weinman
, and Maria Langer
.
Zap!: How Your Computer Can Hurt You - and What You Can Do About It by Don Sellers
Zap! is considered the first book written on Computer Safety. In order to make sure this book reached the hands of the people who needed it most (mainly office workers) Peachpit gave away over 75,000 copies to companies and corporations who promised to provide it to their employees.
Kid’s Web Kit by Lisa Lopuck
When the web first began gaining popularity adults were not the only ones browsing -- children were surfing too. Lisa Lopuck who taught multi media and Web design at San Francisco State University
wanted to help kids shape the future of the Web and wrote the first Web design book for kids.
Ecolinking: Everyone's Guide to Online Environmental Information By Don Rittner
Ecolinking was the first GREEN
online guide. Ecolinking brought forth the many ways computer users could go GREEN.
Computer Privacy Handbook by Andre Bacard
Peachpit published the first guide to PGP. (Pretty Good Privacy
).
Gay and Lesbian Online by Jeff Dawson
Gay and Lesbian Online was "the first trade guide to lesbian and gay cyberspace". When it first published it debuted at the Pride Parade
where Peachpit set up a booth and author Jeff Dawson signed copies.
Avatars! Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet by Bruce Damer
In 1997, six years before Second Life
launched (and nine years before it became mainstream), Peachpit published Avatars with Bruce Damer.
, and New Riders.
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
and has been publishing books, PDFs, and videos on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986. Peachpit is the home of the Visual QuickStart Guide, Visual QuickPro Guide, Take Control of..., and Classroom in a Book series, and the design imprint New Riders and its Voices That Matter series. Peachpit is the publishing partner for Adobe Press at Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
, lynda.com
Lynda Weinman
Lynda Weinman is an American business owner, computer instructor, and author, best known for the company she started with her husband, Bruce Heavin, the multi-award winning online software training web site, lynda.com....
, NAPP, Apple Certified at Apple Inc, AIGA
Aiga
‘Aiga is a word in the Samoan language which means 'family.' The aiga is the family unit of Samoan society and differs from the Western sense in that it consists more than just a mother, father and children. The Samoan family, also referred to as an 'extended family' is based on the culture's...
Design Press and others.
History
Peachpit Press was founded in 1986 by Ted NaceTed Nace
Ted Nace is an American writer, publisher, and environmentalist notable for his critique of corporate personhood and his anti-coal activism. He co-founded Peachpit Press from his house and grew it into a substantive publisher of computer–related books; it grew quickly, according to a report...
and Michael Gardner, and the two co-authored the company's first book, LaserJet Unlimited. Gardner served on the board of the company from 1986 to 1994 but did not take an active role in the company. Nace and Gardner named the company Peachpit because at the time, Nace and several of his friends were "living and working in a peach colored house in Berkeley that was such a dump it was considered a 'pit.'" Computer writer Elaine Weinmann described how Nace let authors typeset and illustrate their own books and described his publishing approach as user-friendly and innovative. The company grew in size and sales, and had a publishing orientation towards books relating to Apple computers, and was described as a leader in books about digital graphics. Nace served as publisher from 1986 until 1996, when Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel assumed the publisher position. In 1994, Nace sold Peachpit Press to London-based media conglomerate Pearson PLC
Pearson PLC
Pearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
. Peachpit Press continues to operate out of Berkeley today.
Although known as a Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
publisher Peachpit started out publishing Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
related books. Its first Macintosh books were The Little Mac Book and The Mac is not a typewriter, both by writer Robin Williams. In 1992, Peachpit purchased the Macintosh Bible series from Arthur Naiman's Goldstein and Blair
Goldstein & Blair
Goldstein & Blair Publishing was a publisher of Apple Macintosh related books in the early 1990s including "Macintosh Bible:Super Combo" and "Macintosh Bible:Ultra Combo". They also published one of Larry Pina's books....
(aptly named after characters in the George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
novel 1984
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
). Peachpit became popular with the Mac community via its strong outreach and support of user groups. In 1998, when Apple user share was down to 4% of the computer user market and Power Computing was making Mac clones
Macintosh clone
A Macintosh clone is a personal computer made by a manufacturer other than Apple, using Macintosh ROMs and system software.-Background:...
, Peachpit was still publishing a large portion of its books in the Mac space. Peachpit’s popularity with Mac users grew even stronger with its Visual QuickStart Guides.
Notable authors
Some notable Peachpit authors include: David BlatnerDavid Blatner
David Blatner is a writer and speaker specializing in desktop publishing software, such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress. Blatner has written 15 books about various subjects with over a half-million books in print, including The Joy of Pi, The Flying Book, Judaism For Dummies,...
, Deke McClelland
Deke McClelland
Deke McClelland is an American author and expert in Adobe products, most notably Photoshop, but also Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop Elements.- Books Authored by McClelland :- Video Training by McClelland :- Awards :...
, Ted Nace
Ted Nace
Ted Nace is an American writer, publisher, and environmentalist notable for his critique of corporate personhood and his anti-coal activism. He co-founded Peachpit Press from his house and grew it into a substantive publisher of computer–related books; it grew quickly, according to a report...
, Steve Roth, Scott Kelby
Scott Kelby
Scott Kelby is an American photographer and an author and publisher of periodicals dealing in Macintosh and Personal Computer software, specifically for design professionals, photographers, and artists.-Biography:...
, Robin Williams
Robin Williams (writer)
Robin Patricia Williams is an American educator who has authored many popular computer-related books, as well as the book Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare? Among her computer books are manuals of style The Mac is Not a Typewriter and The Non-Designer's Design Book, as well as...
, Don Rittner
Don Rittner
Don Rittner is an American historian, archeologist, environmental activist, educator, and author living in the Capital District, Schenectady County, New York. He is the official Schenectady County Historian, responsible for providing guidance and support to municipal historians and serving as a...
, Joe McNally
Joe McNally
Joe McNally is an American photographer who has been shooting for the National Geographic Society since 1987.McNally was born in Montclair, New Jersey. He received his bachelor's and graduate degrees from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University...
, Larry Magid
Larry Magid
Larry Magid , also known as Lawrence J. Magid, is an American journalist, technology columnist and commentator. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Los Angeles. He received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate of education from the University of...
, Steve Krug, Jeffrey Zeldman
Jeffrey Zeldman
- External links :* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , and A List Apart Web Surveys* * , "Boagworld", 2010-03-31* "InformIT Network"* , Khoi Vinh's Subtraction, 2006-10-10* , "DMXzone.com"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...
, Jakob Nielsen
Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)
Jakob Nielsen is a leading web usability consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in human–computer interaction from the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen.-Early life and background:...
, Bruce Schneier
Bruce Schneier
Bruce Schneier is an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on general security topics, computer security and cryptography, and is the founder and chief technology officer of BT Managed Security Solutions, formerly Counterpane Internet...
, Fred Davis
Fred Davis (writer)
Fred Davis, a veteran US IT writer and publisher who helped found Ziff-Davis’s computer publishing division and Wired magazine.He is son of an IBM fellow....
, Seth Godin
Seth Godin
Seth Godin is an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.-Background:...
, Gary Wolf
Gary Wolf (journalist)
This article refers to the journalist and contributing editor for Wired magazine. For the novelist and creator of the Roger Rabbit universe, see Gary K. Wolf.Gary Wolf is a writer and contributing editor at Wired magazine...
, Lynda Weinman
Lynda Weinman
Lynda Weinman is an American business owner, computer instructor, and author, best known for the company she started with her husband, Bruce Heavin, the multi-award winning online software training web site, lynda.com....
, and Maria Langer
Maria Langer
Maria L. Langer is the author of more than 70 non-fiction books, several eBooks and video media training materials, and hundreds of magazine and Web-published articles....
.
Publications
Peachpit’s publishing history includes :Zap!: How Your Computer Can Hurt You - and What You Can Do About It by Don Sellers
Zap! is considered the first book written on Computer Safety. In order to make sure this book reached the hands of the people who needed it most (mainly office workers) Peachpit gave away over 75,000 copies to companies and corporations who promised to provide it to their employees.
Kid’s Web Kit by Lisa Lopuck
When the web first began gaining popularity adults were not the only ones browsing -- children were surfing too. Lisa Lopuck who taught multi media and Web design at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
wanted to help kids shape the future of the Web and wrote the first Web design book for kids.
Ecolinking: Everyone's Guide to Online Environmental Information By Don Rittner
Ecolinking was the first GREEN
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
online guide. Ecolinking brought forth the many ways computer users could go GREEN.
Computer Privacy Handbook by Andre Bacard
Peachpit published the first guide to PGP. (Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
).
Gay and Lesbian Online by Jeff Dawson
Gay and Lesbian Online was "the first trade guide to lesbian and gay cyberspace". When it first published it debuted at the Pride Parade
Gay pride parade
Pride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
where Peachpit set up a booth and author Jeff Dawson signed copies.
Avatars! Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet by Bruce Damer
In 1997, six years before Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
launched (and nine years before it became mainstream), Peachpit published Avatars with Bruce Damer.
Imprints
Although Peachpit Press is Peachpit's flagship imprint, Peachpit also publishes or partners with Adobe Press, Apple Certified, lynda.comLynda Weinman
Lynda Weinman is an American business owner, computer instructor, and author, best known for the company she started with her husband, Bruce Heavin, the multi-award winning online software training web site, lynda.com....
, and New Riders.
Conferences
Peachpit hosts the Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference series.| Year | Location | Conference Site |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2007 | San Francisco, CA | 2007 website |
| Jun 2008 | Nashville, TN | 2008 website |