serial console or ssh into pi?

[gcotant]

This may sound a little stupid, I haven't had my pi for more than a month and I'm still learning. In the last step it says to use serial console or ssh into pi, does it assume I don't have a monitor to use on it, or is that what it means by serial console?

[pepedog]

Via monitor does it.
If you wanted serial though http://elinux.org/RPi_Serial_Connection