The Macintosh Digital Hub: An interactive guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD [Paperback]

Jim Heid (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321125290 | ISBN-13: 978-0321125293 | Publication Date: July 17, 2002 | Edition: Pap/DVD

In the Macintosh world, Apple's free digital hub tools--iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iPod, and iTools--are the driving force behind the convergence of digital media and digital devices. You can use these tools to entertain, educate, persuade, and inspire your audiences at home, school, and work. To help you master this elegant and fun desktop studio, there's no better place to turn than The Macintosh Digital Hub.

The Macintosh Digital Hub is a unique book-DVD hybrid that provides an interactive tour of the digital hub. Written by noted digital media expertJim Heid, a contributing editor of Macworld since 1984 and a Macintosh columnist for the Los Angeles Times, it uses clear, to-the-point text, gorgeous illustrations, and interactive video to do justice to the digital hub's enormous capabilities. The book-DVD combo addresses the basic concepts behind the digital hub, like how to balance file size and image quality in digital photography and how to create effective DVD menus. It also tackles more advanced concepts, like how to record Internet radio for later playback, prepare video for Web distribution, and get digital photos printed onto mugs and mousepads.

The accompanying DVD-Video disc contains two hours of entertaining instruction covering all of Apple's i-programs. You'll see how to produce professional-looking digital media, and you'll see hardware add-ons that will round out your digital studio. Beautiful to look at and enjoyable to watch, The Macintosh Digital Hub is your user manual for the digital lifestyle!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If the current generation of the Apple Macintosh, which enables anyone to edit video and author a DVD right out of the box, represents the future of multimedia computers, then The Macintosh Digital Hub represents the future of multimedia books. Illustrated in color, and with a DVD included, this book can be read, watched, or put to use as a desktop handbook.

The new Macintosh is much more than a computer, and Jim Heid's book explains how to make the most of media management tools like iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. Using all of these tools to control and manage digital music, photos, and video and then share them with others is what this book, and the digital hub philosophy, is all about. Apple's online documentation is more than adequate in most cases, especially since the software itself is so easy to use. This book picks up where the official docs leave off--how to use these tools in the real world, and how to use them together.

In addition to text about simply using the software, there are sections detailing things that every digital jockey should know: what MP3 compression is and how it affects what you hear, printing digital photos, tips for editing video, creating DVD menus, recording Internet radio, and importing and exporting photos and video for the Web. There's also a large section on Apple's iPod and how to use it for more than just music. The single best tip was learning how to record live Internet radio streams and save them to disk.

Jim Heid has written an informative and fun manual. A small, friendly book, The Macintosh Digital Hub should be the second thing you buy after getting that hot new iMac, or the first thing given to a new owner of one. --Mike Caputo

From the Back Cover

In the Macintosh world, Apple's free digital hub tools--iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iPod, and iTools--are the driving force behind the convergence of digital media and digital devices. You can use these tools to entertain, educate, persuade, and inspire your audiences at home, school, and work. To help you master this elegant and fun desktop studio, there's no better place to turn than The Macintosh Digital Hub.

The Macintosh Digital Hub is a unique book-DVD hybrid that provides an interactive tour of the digital hub. Written by noted digital media expertJim Heid, a contributing editor of Macworld since 1984 and a Macintosh columnist for the Los Angeles Times, it uses clear, to-the-point text, gorgeous illustrations, and interactive video to do justice to the digital hub's enormous capabilities. The book-DVD combo addresses the basic concepts behind the digital hub, like how to balance file size and image quality in digital photography and how to create effective DVD menus. It also tackles more advanced concepts, like how to record Internet radio for later playback, prepare video for Web distribution, and get digital photos printed onto mugs and mousepads.

The accompanying DVD-Video disc contains two hours of entertaining instruction covering all of Apple's i-programs. You'll see how to produce professional-looking digital media, and you'll see hardware add-ons that will round out your digital studio. Beautiful to look at and enjoyable to watch, The Macintosh Digital Hub is your user manual for the digital lifestyle!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; Pap/DVD edition (July 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321125290
• ISBN-13: 978-0321125293
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,866,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iPhoto
  • #43 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > iMovie + iDVD

More About the Author

Jim Heid describes himself as a poster child for Apple's iLife software: he has been taking photos, making movies, and playing music since he was a kid. His best-known book series, "The Macintosh iLife," is the world's top-selling line of iLife books.

He began writing about personal computers in 1980, when he computerized his home-built ham radio station with a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I. As Senior Technical Editor of one of the first computer magazines, Kilobaud Microcomputing, he began working with Mac prototypes in 1983. He began writing for Macworld magazine in 1984, and is now a Senior Contributor. He has also written for PC World, Internet World, and Newsweek magazines, and wrote a weekly, nationally syndicated technology column for the Los Angeles Times.

Jim is a frequent speaker at user groups, conferences, and other events. He has taught at the Kodak Center for Creative Imaging in Camden, Maine, at the University of Hawaii, and at dozens of technology conferences in between.

Jim blogs about iLife and digital media topics at www.macilife.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tim Robertson MyMac.com Book Review, October 24, 2002

By 

Tim E Robertson "Publisher MyMac" (Battle Creek, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Macintosh Digital Hub: An interactive guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD (Paperback)

The Macintosh Digital Hub by Jim Heid sets not only the new standard by which all other Mac books should be judged, but is really the first new-breed of Book / DVD combination to hit the Macintosh landscape.

But MAN is this a great product, , this really is a new standard, one I will hold up and judge other products of this nature.

What is "The Macintosh Digital Hub?" It is a 144 full-color page book with an accompanying DVD, which will play just as easily on your Mac or home DVD player. The DVD itself is not so much bonus material for the book, as most discs that come with books are, but a full-fledged partner of content.

Picture this: A great book that goes into a good amount of detail on iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD to get even the most technophobe newbie up and running, but a DVD partner in which you can actually watch and learn how to do it yourself.

A part of me wanted to write this review and keep the book and DVD separate, focusing on the merits and shortcomings of each alone. But that really cannot be done, as the two are wed in a content marriage of blissful splendor. (By the way, I don't think I have ever use either blissful or splendor in any review or article I have ever written, let along in the same sentence.!)

You can watch the DVD or read the book on its own, but using these two together is where the strength of The Macintosh Digital Hub comes out. They are both excellent examples of a writer not just chasing a paycheck, but one who really wants his or her readership to understand and enjoy the subject matter.

The book is well written, in slightly larger text than other books of its kind. A welcome change for older eyes. The book is full of color screen shots, diagrams, and other colorful items to help get the point of topic across in the easiest and most straightforward way. In fact, almost every page in The Macintosh Digital Hub has a color picture on it.

P>The DVD is also broken up into four main chapters, the same as the book, and you can navigate directly via the menu to the segment within the chapter you want to watch. This is a nice DVD, easy to watch and learn by.

One of the problems I have had recently with books is the price. I totally agree that the content creators should be well compensated for their hard work. But the cost of some of the recent Photoshop book, for instance, is outrageous. How many books can us users afford (especially in this economy) Not very many, I think. But here again, The Macintosh Digital Hub shows not only great content, but also a price point to match. <A companion DVD that is not just sample files and software demos. All content, all the time, at half the price you would expect to pay. My hat is off to Jim Heid, PeachPit Press, and Avondale Media for a job well done.

I strongly recommend The Macintosh Digital Hub.

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5

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Tim Robertson
http://www.mymac.com/robertson/digitalhub_8.14.02.shtml

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to the Macintosh digital hub., September 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Macintosh Digital Hub: An interactive guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD (Paperback)

This is a very nicely done book, supplemented by a great instructional DVD. One of Apple's recent marketing pushes has been the integration of your Macintosh into the other aspects of your "digital lifestyle," and making your Mac the hub or center of that process. This book/DVD combination introduces you to each of Apple's "i" application: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD, and shows you how to combine these digital applications.

The book is mostly an introduction to these programs - think of the basic introductory manual which Apple should have included with your Mac, but didn't. The book also includes tips for each iApp from easy to the advanced way to operate each application. The writing is well done and straight forward. I would rate the book on par with the excellent "visual quick start guides" from the same publisher, Peachpit Press, with the added advantage of combining all of the iApps into one book. The book alone would merit 4.5 stars as a solid and well done introductory book.

The accompanying DVD works very well in visually explaining the basic user interface, and takes users through creating a project in each application: burning a CD with iTunes, importing and manipulating pictures with iPhoto, creating a movie with iMovie, and creating a DVD with iDVD. The DVD and book combination work very well together, and represent a great value at this price even before the substantial Amazon discount. Macintosh Digital Hub strikes a good balance between teaching you the basics and giving you a few "power" user tips along the way.

Highly recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't say enough about this book and DVD., January 6, 2003

By 

Alan G. Foster (Harrisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Macintosh Digital Hub: An interactive guide to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD (Paperback)

My office is littered with "how to" books about computers and software and none can compare to this approach. It's like having someone in the room while you make your way through the learning process. I've always believed you can't just learn how to use these programs and put them away until later. You have to use them every day, and then you will know what you are doing; this approach breaks the ice. This is like the "Teach Yourself Visually" series, only better because the DVD supplements what is in the book. They have others on Word and Photoshop and I will be buying them soon. The only bad thing I can say is buy you copy from Amazon.com for [money], I paid [money] at [name].