The Little iTunes Book (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Bob LeVitus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 2002 | Series: Little Book Series

Take advantage of all of iTunes 3's newest features to give your listening experience a boost-and manage the thousands of songs you've just downloaded to your new 20GB iPod. iTunes 3, the latest version of Apple's free digital music software, offers a host of improvements, such as Smart Playlists, user-defined playlists that automatically update themselves; Sound Check, which regulates sound volume across your entire library; better management of Internet streaming, including spoken-word content from Audible.com; and exportable playlists that can be used in other programs. The updated edition of Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus's The Little iTunes Book covers all of these new features as well as the basics, including how to import music from audio CDs, burn audio CDs, and organize and manage your music collection.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Take advantage of all of iTunes 3's newest features to give your listening experience a boost-and manage the thousands of songs you've just downloaded to your new 20GB iPod. iTunes 3, the latest version of Apple's free digital music software, offers a host of improvements, such as Smart Playlists, user-defined playlists that automatically update themselves; Sound Check, which regulates sound volume across your entire library; better management of Internet streaming, including spoken-word content from Audible; and exportable playlists that can be used in other programs. The updated edition of Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus's The Little iTunes Book covers all of these new features as well as the basics, including how to import music from audio CDs, burn audio CDs, and organize and manage your music collection.

About the Author

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus, a well-known Macintosh columnist and noted speaker, is the author of over 30 popular computer books, including The Little iDVD Book, Dr. Mac: The OS X Files and Mac Answers: Second Edition. He is currently a computer columnist for the Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, and MacCentral.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education; 2 edition (November 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321168860
• ISBN-13: 978-0321168863
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,704,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward C. Baig is the Personal Technology columnist for USA TODAY and the author of Macs For Dummies, 10th Edition. Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus pens the popular Dr. Mac column for the Houston Chronicle and is the author of Mac OS X® Snow Leopard For Dummies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Little iTunes Book offers Big help to Mac users, August 17, 2001

By 

Ann Savige "hsavige" (Fla) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little iTunes Book (Paperback)

Here is the dream documentation which seldom accompanies the software packages found on the market today. The software which is the subject of this volume is called iTunes, a free download from Apple.com. The inclusion of CD-RW drives on the latest models offered by Apple mandates that this book be written. Bob LeVitus is more than up to the task.

For those seeking help in the jungle of modern Mac computer technology, here's your chance. I was able to answer questions which have puzzled me for months regarding the manipulation of mp3, AIFF, WAV and CA-DA song files while using my Mac computer. Preparing CDs which I can use in my home entertainment center and my car makes for greater listening pleasure every day.

A touch of humor adds to the readability of this little 168 page gem. I feel certain that all serious Macophiles will want this book in their library, both for reference & for a good read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of iTunes "fog", August 10, 2002

By 

B. Christensen "casual reader" (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little iTunes Book (Paperback)

Excellent book! It took me out of an iTunes "fog" where I was never quite sure what I was doing into the "expert" realm where I am effectively functioning with a very large library of music. I can make playlists, rip songs, burn CDs, you name it! Thanks to Bob LeVitus for a great book! (Sorry, Apple, but your online help just didn't do it for me.)

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Little and Too Much, June 6, 2002

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Little iTunes Book (Paperback)

With a program as automatic and intuitive as "iTunes" it's all too easy to provide gratuitous information at the expense of the genuinely useful. Far too often in this book I sense that the author's instructions to the user about "how" to do things are counterproductive to what the program practically forces you to do all by itself. Rather I would have preferred more explanation of "what" the program does. For example, music files used by iTunes appear in 3 places--the iTunes folder, the iTunes library, the user's playlist. But it still isn't clear to me what the exact distinction is among them. Also, since the program permits multiple compression settings as well as no compression, can a user decompress and recompress without affecting audio quality of a given file? And the author, like many Mac users, touts "Toast" but without clearly explaining the advantages of a relatively expensive software program that essentially duplicates iTunes. Then there are questions about whether to burn with virtual memory on or off, along with questions about how many files a hard drive can support before performance is affected, that are neglected or only partially addressed.

The author makes a few good points--for example, most web sites promising MP-3 downloads simply aren't worth the bother--but not enough to justify the cost of the book, especially now that both iTunes version one and Napster are history.