When DOS gave way to Microsoft Windows, author Andy Rathbone released Windows for Dummies, a title that would go on to sell more than 15 million copies, propelling it into the best-selling computer book of all time. The first printing of DOS for Dummies was only 7,500 copies, giving no indication of what was to come for the series. He would go on to write seven more books for the Dummies franchise, his last one to-date titled Android Tablets For Dummies. His writing in DOS went on to inform the voice of the entire series, incorporating humor into these books designed to engage and educated novices. Published by Kilcullen’s IDG Books, DOS for Dummies was written by Dan Gookin. Unknowingly titling their very first book, this customer said he was looking for “Something like DOS for Dummies”, and hence an entire series was born. While working for Bantam Doubleday Dell publishers in New York, IDG Books co-founder and CEO John Kilcullen overheard a computer software store customer lamenting his need for an easy-to-follow book about computers.
Laypeople with no knowledge of computer technology were seeking out easily-digestible information about software, coding, and operating systems. The For Dummies books really found popularity during the height of the dot-com bubble halfway through the decade. The striking colors caught the eye, making the browser wonder what this book for dummies could teach them. Browsing a bookstore in the mid-’90s, a particular black and yellow spine really stood out in the stacks.
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