iPod: The Missing Manual [Paperback]

J D Biersdorfer J.D. (Author), David Pogue (Author)

Book Description

Series: Missing Manual | Publication Date: October 28, 2008

With the tiny Shuffle, the Nano, the Classic, and the Touch, Apple's gotten the world hooked on portable music, pictures, videos -- and the iPod. One thing they haven't delivered, though, is an easy guide for getting the most from this sleek entertainment center. Enter iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition -- a book as breathtaking, satisfying, and reliable as its subject.

Now in a sleek, travel-friendly size, this new edition provides a no-nonsense view of iTunes 8 and everything in the latest iPod line, with crystal-clear explanations, easy-to-follow color graphics, and guidance on all the amazing things you can do, including:

• Out of the box and into your ears. Find out how to install iTunes and load music on your iPod. And get advice on buying copy-protection free songs from stores like Amazon and Rhapsody.
• Bopping around the iPod. Learn everything from turning it on and off to shaking your iPod Nano to shuffle your tracks.
• In tune with iTunes. Choose which parts of your iTunes library loads onto your iPod, move your sacred iTunes Folder to a bigger hard drive, and add album covers to your collection.
• Picking playlists like a Genius. Let iTunes' new Genius feature whip up smart playlists from your library, and suggest songs from the iTunes Store that fit with what you already own.
• The power of the 'Pod. Download movies and TV shows and learn how to play them on your iPod and finish viewing them on your TV. Play photo slideshows, find cool podcasts, and more.
• Welcome to the App Store. Soup up your iPod Touch, from upgrading to the 2.0 firmware to installing the iTunes Store's nifty new collection of programs -- including games that turn the Touch into a pocket 3-D arcade.

Even if you don't buy one of the new iPod models, this Missing Manual has plenty of information on the latest version of iTunes, the App Store and a whole lot more about Apple's incredible device.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Have you recently upgraded to a new iPod--Classic, Nano, Shuffle, or Touch--and want to learn about all the new features? Or, do you just want more information on the latest version of iTunes, the App Store and a whole lot more about Apple's incredible device? If so, you need an easy illustrated guide to get the most out of your sleek little entertainment center. iPod: The Missing Manual will get you rockin' in no time.

Preview Tips from iPod: The Missing Manual

Set Up Multiple iTunes Libraries Many households have just one computer for the whole family. Wouldn't it be great if everyone had a personal iTunes library? To use multiple libraries, follow these steps: 1.Quit iTunes 2. Hold down the Shift [Option] key on your PC or Mac keyboard and launch iTunes. In the box that pops up, click Create Library and give it a name.

3. iTunes opens up, but with a blank library with nothing in it. If you have music in your main library that you want to move over to this one, choose File--> Add to Library. 4. Navigate to the music you want and add it. If the songs are in your original library, they're probably in My Documents-->My Music--> iTunes-->iTunes Music [Home-->Music-->iTunes-->iTunes Music] in folders sorted by Artist name. Choose the files you want and add. To switch between libraries, just hold down the Shift [Option] key when you're starting iTunes, and you'll get a box that lets you pick the one you want. (The program opens the last library if you don't choose one.) Tracks from CDs you rip go into whatever library's open. And now that you have those songs in this library, you can switch back to the other one and get rid of them there.

Change a Song's Start and Stop Times Got a song with onstage chitchat before it starts or after the music ends? Fortunately, you don't have to sit there and listen. You can a change a song's start and stop times so you hear only the juicy middle part. As you play the song you want to adjust, observe the iTunes status display window; watch for the point in the timeline where you get bored. Then: 1. Click the track you want to adjust. 2. Choose File-->Get Info to call up the song's information box. 3. Click the Options tab and take a look at the Stop Time box, which shows the full duration of the song. 4. Enter the new stopping point for the song, as you noted earlier. You can perform the exact same trick at the beginning of a song by adjusting the time value in the Start Time box.

Move the iTunes Music Folder to an External Drive Media libraries grow and hard drives shrink as thousands of song and videos fill up the space. You may be thinking of getting a big external hard drive to use for iTunes storage, and if so, make sure iTunes knows what you intend to do. If you rudely drag the iTunes Music folder to a different place without telling iTunes, it thinks the songs and videos in your collection are gone. The next time you start the program, you'll find it empty. To move the iTunes Music folder to a new drive, just let the program know where you're putting it. Move the folder to the desired location, then, in the Preferences box, click the Advanced icon or tab. In the area labeled "iTunes Music folder location," click the Change button, and navigate to the place where you moved the folder. Finally, click OK.

Make a Genius Playlist in iTunes With the Genius feature, you click any song that you're in the mood for and iTunes brings back a playlist of 25 to 100 songs that it thinks go well with the one you picked. Here's the procedure: 1. Click a song title in your library. 2. Click the Genius button at the bottom of the iTunes window. 3. iTunes presents you with your new playlist in a flash. 4. Use the buttons at the top of the Genius window to adjust the number of songs in the playlist, refresh it with new songs if you want a different mix, and--best of all--save the playlist permanently.

Make Playlist Folders If you like to have a playlist or five for every occasion, but find your iTunes Source list is getting crowded, iTunes lets you store multiple playlists inside convenient folders. 1. To add a folder to your Source list, click the Source list's Library icon and then choose File-->New Playlist Folder. 2. A new "untitled folder" appears, inviting you to change it's name to something more original. 3. Drag any playlists you want to store inside the folder onto its icon. If the whole family shares one computer, folders can give each person a tidy receptacle to store his or her personal playlists. Folders are also great for storing a bunch of playlists that go well together. That way, when you select the folder and hit play, iTunes plays all the folder's songs consecutively.

About the Author

J.D. Biersdorfer is the author of iPod: The Missing Manual and The iPod Shuffle Fan Book, and is co-author of The Internet: The Missing Manual and the second edition of Google: The Missing Manual. She has been writing the weekly computer Q&A column for the Circuits section of the New York Times since 1998.

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the weekly personal-technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. With 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the "for Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music); in 1999, he launched his own series of complete, funny computer books called Missing Manuals, which now includes 30 titles.

David and his wife Jennifer Pogue, MD, live in Connecticut with their three young children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 7 edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596522126
• ISBN-13: 978-0596522124
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Music > iPods
  • #90 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Macs

More About the Author

After studying drama by day and working for the campus newspaper by night when I was at Indiana University, I moved to to New York on the Greyhound bus when I was 22, figuring I'd crash the theater and get a job right off as a prop tart making stuff for Broadway musicals. That didn't exactly work out, but I took a sideways bounce into the world of publishing. I've worked around the city at several magazines and now I write the weekly computer Q&A column for The New York Times.

I did make it to Broadway, though -- just hailed a cab there last night.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch manual, November 4, 2008

By 

John A. Suda (Rochester NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: iPod: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

"IPod, the Missing Manual, Seventh Ed.," is an update and improvement of a book which has already distinguished itself for excellence in providing guidance for iPod users. It is one of Pogue Press's Missing Manual series which itself is a benchmark for computer books of its type. This edition of "iPod"covers the latest and greatest iPods, the iTunes software, and accessories for the iPod as well as further polishing the presentation formula of the "iPod Missing Manual" editions.

The book is lavishly produced in glossy paper and full-color graphics. There are graphics on nearly every page. The well-designed layout has nicely contrasting headings, body type, sidebars, and illustrations, which make it easy to read and understand the well-written material. The content is covered thoroughly and comprehensively. It covers nearly everything an iPod user needs to know to utilize the machine to its fullest, from using the iPod within minutes out of the box, to learning all of the applications, menus, synching options, and connection options to the Internet. The ending chapter discusses troubleshooting.

There are chapters devoted to each function of the iPod - music, photos, videos, productivity applications, games, and Web access and e-mail (for the Touch). Throughout there are useful and interesting Notes and Tips. The book covers all of the current iPod models - Mac and PC -and highlights recommended connection hardware for using the iPod with a TV, external speakers, radio, streaming over wireless devices, and in the car.

Much of the newer content deals with the iPod's flagship, the Touch, which supports Web surfing, e-mail, and numerous third-party applications available for downloading from the Apple Store. The chapters and segments are organized in such a way that you can selectively read only those parts which apply to your specific iPod model, but the whole book is an easy read.
There is plenty of information and suggestions on customizing the iPod to suit your needs and tastes, both software wise and with hardware accessories. The issues of digital rights management and legal workarounds are well explained.

The only way this book could be better would be if it included a coupon for a free iPod.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting in Touch with my Touch, December 16, 2008

By 

Pat Whittle - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: iPod: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

I've owned about every other iPod model, now with an iPod Touch 2nd gen. A one point, I worked for Apple, so I'm an ardent consumer of most things Apple. I found this book a quick read (2 days), lighthearted, and full of good info. I've known most of the iPod features as well as iTunes. For me, this book was about the Touch.

I thought the quality of the paper and images were going to be poor, for the cover is sort of cheesy. I was wrong. The paper is a high quality matte that holds the sharp graphic images. The writing style is mostly straightforward with a little dry wit, consistent with Pogue's podcasts, which I also enjoy.

The first few chapters start a little slow, but I came into this book with an iPod-savvy background. Chapter 5, iTunes Power Moves, started sparking my interest. After so many years, a refresher is, well, refreshing, brushing up on my knowledge and seeing if there's anything new I may have overlooked as being useful for the way I presently using my tools/toys. For instance, there's a page about changing the song's file format. The iPod Touch doesn't support mp2 format, the encoding in which I found one of my music files to be.

Then there are the myriad of tricks and tips pertaining to the Touch, my primary interest. LOTS of valuable info. It really re-energized my interest in the device. He shows how to view lyrics as the music plays - something not possible in iTunes. It's a feature I really like and now use most of the time.

Other interesting chapters were 8 and 11. Chapter 8 is about getting video onto the device, video settings on iTunes and the Touch. Chapter 11, Surfing the Web, may have had the most new information for me. For instance, I learned that touching the top of the browser window brings you to the top (insta-scroll). And the keyboard - wow! I didn't know there were so many gestures to rapidly enter characters. For instance, I found numeric entry awkward, flipping to the numeric keyboard. The book showed me another, quicker way to enter numbers and never leave the alpha soft keyboard. What a time saver. Where did he find this stuff was the question that often came to mind. I even got inspired to sync bookmarks with the Touch Safari. I hope some day URL Manager - my preferred URL manager - will sync with the Touch. Last, this chapter shows references for mobile-aware websites.

There's also a chapter on additional devices like power adapters and car chargers, if you don't have your own already! Overall, this book was well worth it, if for nothing more than to get the full value out of the Touch. Good job.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars iPod The Missing Manual, November 26, 2008

By 

Stuart F. Stowers (Dunbar, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iPod: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

A very worthwhile handbook. I learned everything I needed to know to use the software to load music into my computer, create playlists and transfter the music into the iPod. Well written and easy to understand.