Customer Reviews

iPod: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.

I just purchased my first iPod this year. I bought the manual to be sure I would get a good understanding of how to the use the iPod. I'm glad I did because the user guide that ships with the iPod is minimal.

The authors explain all the features in all the iPods currently available - the Shuffle, the Classic, the Nano, and the iTouch. At times it is a little confusing because each iPod does some things differently, so you have to skim over things to find the instructions for your model. However, these side by side comparisons are helpful for current iPod owners who are thinking of upgrading and for first time buyers who want to know which iPod best fits their needs.

The manual's instructions are great - I went from being a newbie to using most of the features of my classic a few days after it arrived.

Once the features of the iPods are explained, the authors move on to show how to use iTunes. Because iTunes is the same for all kinds of iPods, this section is easier to follow.

Although I had not had an iPod before, I'd used iTunes to listen to songs on my laptop for over a year. I knew my way around iTunes and the iTunes store, but this manual showed me some things I didn't know.

I recommend this manual to everyone who wants to get the best out of their iPods, anyone who is considering buying an iPod for the first time, and veteran iPod owners who are thinking of an upgrade. For the asking price, this book is really worth it.

I'm no iPod newbie, but the new (7th) edition of the Missing Manual helped get me up to speed with my Nano. It showed me, for example, how to
* change a song's file format from mp3 to AAC or AIFF
* set the iPod's more than 20 EQ presets
* find and add lyrics to song files
* import address book contacts, calendar information, and text files, and
* customize the Nano's main menu

No matter which model you have, you'll find help here. The iPod classic, Nano, Shuffle, and iPod Touch all receive lots of discussion.

The writing is clear, friendly, and sometimes humorous. Page layout is quite attractive and screen shots and illustrations big and colorful.

iTunes receives five chapters, including discussions of `power moves," playlists, navigating the iTunes store, and viewing videos. Other chapters discuss viewing photos on the iPod, using the iPod as personal assistant, surfing the Web with iPod touch, connecting the iPod to external speakers and home entertainment system, and what to do when the iPod doesn't work.

Even though the word iTunes is missing from the book's title, it covers the software more than it does iPod, which is unfortunate because, truth be told, the 6G iPods and the iPod touch are both powerful and confusing. (There're also a lot of bugs to the iPod's software, such as the inability to correctly display TV Shows' release dates.) The very basics of iPodding is covered in this book, but otherwise it just talks about iTunes, iTunes, iTunes. Since iPod and iTunes are tightly integrated with one another, I wouldn't have complained, except in this book the iPod coverage is just too little and too shallow.

Also, in terms of writing style, the book is wordy, just like articles in the New York Times for which the authors write. Also, the authors keep playing sycophants to Apple and Steve Jobs, which is annoying. Just give me the straight facts about how to use the iPod, man (and woman)!

A lot of iPod operations are left unexplained. For instance, how do you keep the photos organized so they get sync'ed correctly? (FYI, the iPod can only read one level of folder structure.) Also, what does the "Remember position" checkbox mean for a song? (The iPod seems to remember a song's position regardless of this setting.) How about this one: if I rate a song in iTunes and rate it differently on the iPod, which one gets kept during sync? There're many other such useful topics the book, in its 7th edition, does not cover. There're also a few editorial errors.

In short, I found the iPod coverage in this book way too limited -- and what's covered is also too shallow. Twenty bucks is a lot to charge for a book that, for both iPod and iTunes, pretty much just reproduces Apple's help files.

This book is really excellent. I bought it the first time I saw it in a brick bookstore, a few weeks after buying the frustrating "The iPod & iTunes PocketGuide", and this has been an absolute pleasure. On a word-by-word basis it is nice reading and quite clear. On the basis of its large scale organization, it works well. Moreover, it has many small illustrations, and all of them are the right size and with the right detail to make their point well - none seemed gratuitous.

I keep hearing what great products Apple makes, and I like my Nano very much, but - what were they thinking when they didn't write this book and put it in the box?!

'iPod: The Missing Manual' by Jude Biersdorfer is the perfect reference for all iPod fans, users, and geeks alike. With 300+ pages of material spread out over 13 chapters, you will learn all the ins and outs of your iPod and iTunes better than ever before!! From the basics like general usage of your iPod to learning how to use iTunes to import music and add to your library to creating playlists and working with photos and videos, this truly is a gem. Now in its 7th!!! edition, this newest iPod book covers the newest iPod-like iPod, the new video iPod nano, and it describes what makes these newest generation players so amazing!! Full color, glossy paper, wonderful content and a size that fits perfectly in your hand (yes this DOES make a difference), this is an absolute home run of a book by Pogue Press.

If you want to get the most out of you iPod and/or iTunes and want to have fun doing so, pick up this wonderful sidekick to your Apple world and enjoy!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

there was a lot on there that I already knew. I guess it really was ment for a NEW iPod user. I wish I had it when I first started to use my iPod. But its is useful.

This book provides the hidden details of the ins and outs of my iPod Classic. I highly recommend this book.