Hacking iPod and iTunes (ExtremeTech) [Paperback]

Scott Knaster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0764569848 | ISBN-13: 978-0764569845 | Edition: 1

• Put on the headphones and crank up the action! Here's the one and only, ultimate guide for music junkies looking to squeeze every possible bit of potential from their beloved iPods, both Mac and Windows versions
• Legendary Mac maven Scott Knaster shares more than 100 hacks, tweaks, and mods that unlock both the musical and non-musical tricks in the iPod's repertoire
• Since iPod is the constant companion of music lovers everywhere, they'll groove to the discovery of how to make it download headlines, stock quotes, even driving directions; become a Bluetooth transmitter; or run Linux-and that's before they learn to create and play adventure games with it
• In this latest offering from ExtremeTech, readers learn to tweak Gracenote CDDB in iTunes, hack their own iTunes music library and album covers, and more
• According to Apple's research, an iPod is sold nearly every thirty seconds
• iTunes owns digital music-more than eighty percent of legal music downloads, over seventeen million songs, have come from iTunes since its launch

Editorial Reviews

Review

&a legendary Mac hacker explores the nooks and crannies of iTunes and the iPod& -- Publishing News, 22nd March 04

"The technical guff is kept separate… (with) lots of little tips aimed at making your life as an iPod user easier." (Shetland Times, 3^rd December 2004)

"…a legendary Mac hacker explores the nooks and crannies of iTunes and the iPod…" (Publishing News, 22^nd March 04)

From the Back Cover

How to Mod The Pod and fine-tune iTunes

Does your iPod go wherever you do? This book will take the two of you on your most exciting adventure–deep into iPod’s awesome potential. You already know it’s a musical prodigy, but wait 'til you teach your iPod to take notes, give you the weather and stock quotes, keep your calendar, play games with you, double as a remote control, light up the night, and read you your e-mail–out loud. Think that’s great? Take a look at Part 2!Kick back and HackA few of the 100-plus hacks, tweaks, and mods you’ll find inside

1. Scrub your songs
2. Install and run Linux
3. Tweak Gracenote CDDB
4. Hack iPod’s database
5. Discover Visualizer’s secrets
6. Create iPod adventure games
7. Clean up your tracks
8. Play music over Wi-Fi
9. Find free legal tunes
10. Listen to audio books
11. Create gapless CDs
12. Make iTunes an alarm clock

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764569848
• ISBN-13: 978-0764569845
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of hacks to keep you busy, August 19, 2004

By 

hang10web (Midwest, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hacking iPod and iTunes (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

Let me start off by telling readers that your definition of "hack" or "hacking" may vary. To some, hacking is a dark art of exploitation. To others it might be something that is actually called reverse engineering. In this book, a hack, or hacking refers to what "hacking" started out as - discovering a cool shortcut or workaround, an neat trick, a new use, or an undiscovered tool or accessory. As the author mentions in the Introduction, not all hacks have to be about technology, or even high-tech which I think threw off one of the reviewers of this book. Never hacked a TV antenna with aluminum foil for better reception, or fixed something with duct tape?

Having said that, there are some pretty great hacks in this book. For instance there is good coverage of battery replacement (save yourself that Apple service fee,)using iPod with Outlook (a bit tricky,) install Linux on the iPod (you cant get hackier than that,) move playlists around machines with XML, AppleScripting with iTunes, and others.

The book is not super hard core, but is accessible to everyone, which I think is the point. Those who are expecting detailed schematics, or instructions on disassembly (why would you do that?) will be disappointed. Honestly, there is not really all that much you can "hack" into an iPod - it's a pretty closed system. But, the author has done a great job of finding the edges, and the fringes of iPod hacking, and the book is a great resource for iPod users, getting everything into one place.

Hacking iPod + iTunes absolutely ranks up there with the other iPod books on the market, and covers things a lot of them don't - making it truly unique.

Recommended.

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Buy, September 29, 2004

By 

G. Okada "akguy" (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hacking iPod and iTunes (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

I may be the exception but I think there are lots of folks out there like me. We bought an iPod, loaded a bunch of music on it, spent a small fortune in the iTunes store, showed it off to our friends and that's about as far as we got. We've heard about the many capabilities of this cool gadget but never really got deeper into it. and I look cool. I've heard about how much my iPod can do but I never really explored its capabilities. "Hacking iPod + iTunes" is the book for every iPod owner. I first opened this book while I was having my car oil changed and 45 minutes later I had dog eared pages and tons of underlined tips. There was so much helpful information that I abandoned plans for doing errands so I could rush home to tinker with my iPod.

"Hacking iPod + iTunes" will literally get you under that svelte iPod skin and into the meat of that cool and expensive toy. Scott Knaster starts off explaining that "hacking" doesn't mean doing evil and exploitive things but rather it is about innovation, exploration, learning and fun. And hacking is not limited to just computers. The book is divided into two parts: Hacking iPod and Hacking iTunes. The chapters delve into every possible detail about iPod and iTunes that one could imagine. Some things are pretty far fetched such as using an iPod as an alarm clock to Battery Replacement Surgery (too scary for me). On the practical side, Knaster covers neat accessories and just about every possible use and tip to maximize your iPod's capabilities. The section on iTunes is equally detailed including explicit direction on creating scripts using AppleScript.

Written in a straightforward style, "Hacking iPod + iTunes" is encyclopedic in its breadth and scope. If you own an iPod, this is a must-have book. My one minor complaint about the book is that I found the cheap quality paper sometimes difficult to turn unless I wet a finger first. That aside, "Hacking iPod + iTunes" is worth every penny and it will take you and you iPod to new heights.

43 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the cool reality of your ipod, February 9, 2005

By 

mark harlan "http://www.RedsDeal.com" (silicon valley, california) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hacking iPod and iTunes (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

scott "special k" knaster is old skool apple, with no less than seven mac books you can buy on amazon right now (and another coming) ... he's so entrenched in the apple psyche and culture that he's almost certainly forgotten more about apple and the mac than any "normal" citizen has ever known ... in short, he's *exactly* who you want acting as your digital tour guide.

reading h.i.a.i. is like having your favorite brother sit down and show you everything your ipod can do. all the in's and out's of the super-cool digital music world are laid out in an easy to read, logical and fun fashion.

no matter how much you like your ipod, you'll like it better after spending a little time with special k.


and these other reviews? some of them just bust me up:

"you can find all this stuff online"
- uh, sure. you can find the whole frickin' world online. is all the stuff in the book online? i honestly don't know. do *i* want to go looking for it all? hell no. that's what a book is *for*. my time, and the permanence of having something on my self, is worth 20 bucks. a library must be a huge disappointment to that reviewer.

"he calls these 'hacks?'"
- it's the name of the series, dim bulb. when you write a book in a series, it gets that title. i wrote "winning at internet poker for dummies," but it doesn't mean you *have* to be a dummy to buy it. if you buy a book like h.i.a.i. and expect to get a "hack" along the lines of learning how launch nuclear missiles with your ipod, you're going to be let down by default.


thanks for reading.