@Smiley
In all honesty, I agree, this books of this series strike me as unlikely to present a reasonably nuanced picture of the philosophies presented. That said, if they get people interested in philosophy: awesome.

No one comes to a new field of study with a thorough understanding of it - usually just a growing interest. So, if the ideas presented in the book are a bit simplistic for a Big Grownup Philosopher, that's okay. We're not the intended audience. If some high school kid picks the book up at a Borders and becomes interested in platonic forms, Hobbsian ethics, or symbolic logic, and wants to know more, that's great. He just might end up with a philosophy degree some day.

@Hal
Aw, c'mon now, don't be so harsh. As a lady with a philosophy B.A., I can tell you there are plenty of girls who like philosophers - we just picked the good ones and married them already. ;3

...and finally,
@ICANT
Aye, philosophy has much wider uses than determining the exact color to paint the walls of your cardboard box home... :)

As a historical note, before the advent of computer science programs, IBMs recruiting efforts most often picked up students from the philosophy programs of the colleges they worked with. It's easy to see why - computers are nothing more than massive logic processing machines (Boolean Operations and Turing Machines being huge topics in philosophy yet today). So, yes, there's a lot room for the skills learned in philosophy outside of brooding in coffee shops.