Engineering:Information and Communication Technology for CCEA GCSE

Information and Communication Technology for CCEA GCSE (ISBN:0-340-88309-X) is a textbook by Gerry Lynch and Siobhan Matthewson aimed specifically at the CCEA GCSE in ICT. It was published by Hodder Murray in 2005.

Fundamental Errors

Despite being endorsed by CCEA and having been written by a pair of experienced examiners (as stated on the back cover), the book contains a number of basic errors. The list below is not exhaustive, but provides a representative sample. It is not known if the errors are on the part of the authors or editors.

• Cache (page 126): there is a confusion between the high-speed variant on RAM, known as CPU cache, and the hard disk web cache used by a web browser
• Internet (page 160): the book states 'The Internet is a WAN'. The English Wikipedia article on the Internet makes it clear that the Internet is not a single WAN but a collection of WANs
• MSN (page 179): while MSN is a collection of internet services, the book confuses this with the Microsoft Messenger service formerly known as MSN Messenger service. It states: "Microsoft designed MSN for instant messaging"
• Scanners (page 130): a confusion is shown between an image scanner and a 3D scanner.
• USB Bar (page 165): in the context, this probably refers to a USB flash drive, however apart from this text the term is unknown.
• Magnetic tape (page 136): it is claimed that Magnetic Tape, in the context of data storage is the same as Digital Audio Tape, which is not strictly correct, as the Wikipedia articles show.
• Netscape Navigator: Netscape Navigator is described as a popular web browser, which it had not been for several years before the book was printed. At the time or printing, Internet Explorer had approx 60%-70% of market share and Firefox around 30%-40%.