'Dummies' and 'Idiots' for boneheads: Today, the "For Dummies" series has 125 million books in print, with an estimated 68 million buyers in the United States proudly proclaiming themselves to be dummies. Now a global phenomenon, the books have been translated into 39 languages and are easily recognized by their black-and-yellow covers and the "dummy" character in geeky oversized glasses guiding readers along.
And if you could do well by calling the customer a dummy, why not call him an idiot? Two years after the first "For Dummies" book, Alpha Books jumped on the bandwagon and published the first of its "Idiot's Guides" series with The Complete Idiot's Guide to MS-DOS, which appeared in 1993. The "Idiot's Guides" are distinguishable by their orange-bordered cover and orange-and-blue title box.
