Barb Gonzalez

Barb Gonzalez looked at the back of a home-theater receiver and asked herself: "How is anyone going to figure out how to hook this thing up?"  Working at an electronics retailer at the time, she paired her cartooning and writing talents to create her first book, "The Home Electronics Survival Guide."  Customers began to make appointments with Barb to be advised on their home theater, computer and digital camera purchases, and to learn how to use them.

With that impetus, Barb made it her mission to simplify technology for the average user, translating tech talk and making it easier to understand.  She soon became known as the "Simple Tech Guru" and published a second book, "Home Theater Made Simple."

For the past 10 years, Barb has been writing for print magazines and blog sites, including "Home Theater" magazine, "Widescreen Review," "Dealerscope" and digitaltrends.com.  She has written on network media players for About.com; she has been a guest on radio talk shows and podcasts; she wrote and appeared in Disney's "The Higher Definition Home Theater Experience."  She has consulted with manufacturers and retailers to provide education about technologies from Blu-ray and television to digital picture frames and iPhones.

Barb began her career in the movie business, working in film and television production for Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Disney and others.  She is also a professional travel and food photographer.