Secrets of the iPod and iTunes (Fifth Edition) [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Contents: Original iPod (including the iPod Special Edition: U2)

If you can contain your excitement, try to linger over unwrapping the iPod's box. The packaging is as beautifully designed as the iPod itselffrom the elegant and understated outer sleeve to the inner box that folds open like a jewelry case.

The CD Package

After you do remove the box's outer sleeve and open the box, you'll find a small white envelope labeled simply "Enjoy." With the release of the fourth generation of iPods, Apple has significantly bulked up the documentation bundled with the iPod. In this envelope, you'll find a 35-page Getting Started guide that shows you how to start playing music on your new toy, a blue piece of paper that screams "FREE MUSIC for Your iPod" (but which is really a come-on for the iTunes Music Store), a copy of the iPod's warranty, and a software license agreement that covers the software included on the CD. This CDalso tucked inside the "Enjoy" envelopecontains the latest iPod Software Updater for the iPod and iPod mini, tutorials for the iPod mini and regular iPod in PDF format, and PDF user guides for both varieties of iPod. When you view this CD with a Macintosh, you'll find separate installers for iTunes and QuickTime. The installer file for the PC includes both iTunes and QuickTime.

If you're like most people, you may glance at the Getting Started guide and may fire up the tutorial and user guide to peruse the first couple of pages, but will shove the other paperwork out of the way. Because you won't read the fine print, allow me to draw your attention to the most important points in these documents:

Learn more.
The Getting Started guide suggests that if you want to learn more about your iPod than what is presented in this guide, you should spin through the CD, visit [www.apple.com/ipod], and choose iPod Help from the iTunes Help menu. These suggestions are worth paying attention to. Although the book you hold in your hands is comprehensive, capabilities may have been added to the iPod and iTunes since this book went to print.

One-year warranty.
Those of you who own one of the first-generation iPods are undoubtedly about to put down this book and send me a stern letter that begins: "Listen, Mr. Smartypants Writer, my iPod came with a 90-day warranty. Why intentionally deceive your readers?"

To which I have to answer, "Who, me?" You see, the original iPods did ship with a 90-day warranty. After Apple received a significant amount of flak for offering such a skimpy warranty, however, it ever-so-quietly changed the terms of that warranty to one year on all iPods.

Note, however, that when Apple released the third generation of iPods, it changed the warranty yet again. Yes, your iPod is covered for a period of one year. But if a defect arises after you've owned the thing for 180 days, you must pay a $30 shipping and handling charge for the return of your iPod. "Shipping and handling" may mean nothing more than an Apple Genius making a round trip to the storeroom to fetch a new iPod in exchange for the funky one you brought in. Regardless of the cost per footfall, that's what you agreed to when you opened the iPod box, and therefore, you must pungle up.

Apple has recently allowed the iPod to be covered by AppleCarea $59 plan that extends your warranty by an additional year. With this plan you'll get free phone support and repair coverage for up to two years. For more details visit [http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=M9404LL/A]. Although I'll cover the matter in greater detail later in the book, I'll mention right at the get-go that if you intend to use your iPod a lot, AppleCare is a sound investment.

Permitted uses and restrictions.
By using the iPod and its software, you automatically agree to the software license agreement. When you agree to this thing, you swear that you won't use the software to copy material that you are not legally permitted to reproduce. I'll discuss the ethics of piracy as we proceed, but in the meantime, know that if you use iTunes to copy CDs that you don't own or pack your iPod with music files pirated from the Internet, you are breaking the terms of the agreement and conceivably could be called on the carpet by Apple for doing so.

Don't hurt yourself.
The Safety and Cleaning portion of the User's Guide suggests that you avoid performing obviously boneheaded actions with your iPod. Jamming the earbuds into the deepest recesses of your ear canals and cranking the volume could damage your hearing, for example. Operating an automobile while listening to the iPod through the earbuds could make driving less safe. Using the iPod in areas where the temperature exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit for long periods could break the iPod (but it likely would break you first). And taking the thing into the bathtub with you isn't such a smooth idea unless running a few thousand volts through your body is your idea of a good time.

Don't crack it open.
Apple suggests that you run the risk of electric shock and voiding your warranty by opening your iPod. The com pany also claims that you will find no user-serviceable parts inside. This is mostly true. Although you're unlikely to shock yourself by opening an iPod that isn't plugged in, these devices are tightly sealed, and when you crack one open, you'll likely leave signs that you've been monkeying about (and sure as shootin', any tech worth his or her salt will deny your warranty claim upon detecting those signs). As you'll learn in the Troubleshooting section of this book, there are a couple of user-serviceable parts inside (well, user-serviceable to the extent that they can be replaced or used in another iPod). See Chapter 10 for details.

Finally, Apple thought it important enough to put the following in all capital letters, so I suppose it bears repeating here:

"THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE."

So please, when you assemble the backyard nuclear power plant or air-traffic-control system, use software other than iTunes to monitor your reactor or guide your planes. Your neighbors will thank you for it.

The Earbuds

Your iPod comes with a set of headphones that you place insiderather than overyour ears (Figure 1.1). This style of headphones is known as earbuds. Two foam disks fit over the earbuds. (Apple includes two pairs of these foam disks in the box.) These disks not only grip the inside of the earhelping keep the earbuds in placebut also make the earbuds more comfortable to wear. The hard plastic surface of the earbuds will begin to hurt after a while. And yes, the disks clearly display detritus picked up inside your earsthus discouraging others from borrowing your headphones.

Just as you'll find a wide range of foot and head sizes among groups of people, the size of the opening to the ear varies. The earbuds included with the first generation of iPods were a little larger than other earbuds you may have seen. Some people (including your humble author) found these headphones uncomfortable. The latest iPods include smaller earbuds that I find much more comfortable. With the foam disks in place, you shouldn't have trouble keeping the earbuds in place, regardless of how large or small the opening to your ears is. But if you find the earbuds uncomfortable, you can purchase smaller or larger earbuds, or you can opt for a pair of over-the-ear headphones (see Chapter 8).

If the included earbuds do fit you, you may or may not be pleased with their performance. Apple made great efforts to create the finest music player on the planet, and it didn't skimp on the headphones, but sound is subjective, and you may find that other headphones deliver a more pleasing sound to your ears. If you believe you deserve better sound than your Apple earbuds provide, by all means audition other headphones.

The included earbuds use 18mm drivers with Neodymium transducer magnets and offer a frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. If you're like me, you wouldn't know a Neodymium transducer magnet if it walked up and offered to buy you lunch, but you should know that the frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz is what's offered by a good home stereo.

The FireWire Cable, USB 2.0 Cable, and Power Adapter

But waitthere's more. Beneath the "Enjoy" envelope and the cardboard that cradles the iPod, you'll find the iPod's proprietary FireWire and USB 2.0 power and data cables, plus the power adapter. Earlier versions of the iPod box housed a FireWire 6-pin-to-4-pin cable adapter for the benefit of Windows users whose PCs have a 4-pin FireWire port. Now that the iPod supports charging and data transfer via USB 2.0 (and Apple includes a USB 2.0 cable with every iPod), this adapter was deemed to be unnecessary. Reflecting the cohesiveness of the overall design, the FireWire and USB 2.0 cables and power adapter come in white and are stamped with the Apple logo.

The FireWire and USB 2.0 cables included with the latest iPods each carry their namesake connector on one end (a 6-pin FireWire plug on the FireWire cable, a standard rectangular USB connector on the USB cable) and a proprietary connector on the other. Apple had to design a data connector that supported both FireWire and USB 2.0 connectionsthus, the proprietary cable. The cable is also thinner than the cables included with the first two generations of iPods. In this case, less is better. A thinner cable puts less stress on the connector at the bottom of the iPod.

The power adapter sports a single FireWire port at the back and features retractable power prongsa wonderful idea if you don't want whatever you carry the adapter in to be punctured by the prongs. For this reason, Windows users without a FireWire connector (or powered USB 2.0 connector, if they're using a fourth-generation iPod, iPod Photo, or iPod mini) on their PC should retain their FireWire cable for the purpose of charging the iPod.

The power adapter isn't required to charge your iPod. The iPod will charge when it's connected to a Mac or PC outfitted with a 6-pin FireWire connector or, if you have a fourth-generation iPod, iPod Photo, or iPod mini, a USB 2.0 connector (though the computer has to be on and awake; a sleeping computer won't charge your iPod). But the iPod is a portable device, after all, and because it is, you may not have a computer with you when you want to charge it. Simple enoughjust string the included FireWire data/power cable between the adapter and the iPod, and wait as long as four hours for the iPod to charge fully. (It will charge to 80 percent of battery capacity in about two hours.)

Note that the power adapter is capable of handling AC input from 100 to 240 voltsmeaning that with the proper adapter, you can power the iPod in countries that use the 240-volt standard without having to use a power converter . You may need to replace the adapter's plug with a plug appropriate for the country you're visiting.

To make that possible, the power adapter's plug section can be detached and replaced with one of the plugs available in Apple's $39 World Travel Adapter Kita collection of plugs that work in North America, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Europe, Korea, Australia, and Hong Kong. These plugs also work with the power adapters for Apple's iBook, PowerBook, and AirPort Express.

Play Time and Battery Life

Apple claims that the fourth-generation iPods can play for 12 hours, the iPod Photo can play music for 15 hours and a slideshow for 5 hours, and the iPod mini can play for more than 8 hours when fully charged. (Previous iPod models could play for 10 hours on a charge.) This is absolutely truegiven the proper conditions.

First, make sure that your iPod is running iPod Software 1.2.6 Updater or later. A bug introduced in an earlier version of the iPod software quickly drained the battery. Second, engage the iPod's Hold switch when you're not using it. It's possible to switch the iPod on accidentally, which drains the battery. When the Hold switch is on, the iPod's controls won't work.

Also, operate the iPod in temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In a cooler environment, an iPod may not wake from sleep. To warm it up, hold your iPod in your hand or tuck it into your armpit for a few minutes. (That should perk you up on a cold morning.)

Apple suggests that you'll squeeze the most life out of an iPod charge by playing files that are smaller than 9 MB, keeping your mitts off the Next Track and Previous Track buttons, turning off backlighting, setting the iPod's equalization settings (the controls for boosting or cutting certain audio frequenciesknown as EQ) to None, and turning off the Sound Check option.

Files larger than 9 MB cause the iPod to access the hard drive more often and use up the iPod's battery charge more quickly. Pushing the Next Track and Previous Track buttons likewise requires the iPod to access the hard drive more often. Slathering EQ on your tunes or evening out the volume between songs with Sound Check apparently taxes the hard drive as well. And the power necessary to light up your iPod's screen is sure to shorten play time.

Also, you'll significantly shorten the original iPod's charge if, while using a voice recorder attachment, you pause a completed recording rather than end it by saving it. When you pause such a recording, the hard drive continues to spin, draining your battery. A stopped recording allows the hard drive to spin down.

The iPod Dock

At the bottom of the iPod, you'll find the proprietary port that handles power and data connections. Why move this port from the top of the iPodwhere it resided for the first two generations of the deviceto the bottom? So that you can use a dock, of course.

That diminutive Dockincluded with the 40 GB iPodfeatures an audio Line Out port and data connector on the back and mounts the iPod at a slightly rakish angle (Figure 1.2).

You can put this Dock to work in a couple of ways. The first is to string one of the data/power cables bundled with the iPod between the Dock and your computer. If your iPod is configured to update automatically when you connect it to your computer, synchronizing the iPod with your iTunes or, if you prefer, your Musicmatch Jukebox library is as simple as can be. Just plunk the iPod into the Dock. In next to no time, iTunes (or Musicmatch Jukebox, if you've chosen to use it rather than iTunes on your PC) launches and updates the iPod with any tunes you've placed on your computer. And if the Dock is connected to a powered FireWire or USB 2.0 port, just leave the iPod in the Dock to charge it.

The Dock is also useful for plugging your iPod into your home stereo. Just run an audio cable (in all likelihood, a stereo Y cable that features two RCA plugs on one end and a stereo minijack connector on the other) between the Dock and a spare input on your home stereo receiver. Place your iPod in the Dock, and play it just as you would if you were using it with headphones. To charge the iPod at the same time, attach the included FireWire data/power cable to the back of the Dock, and plug the other end (the end that sports the FireWire connector) into the power adapter.

The iPod

And, of course, there's the iPod itself.

Now that you own it, you're welcome to remove the iPod from the box, strip away the protective plastic sheeting, and ignore or admire the admonition printed on the plastic: Don't steal music.

The first thing you'll likely notice is that the iPod is even more lovely than it appears in the magazine ads and on the Web and TV. The second thing is that it's more solidly built than you probably imagined. The 20 GB fourth-generation iPod, at 4.1 inches tall, 2.4 inches wide, and 0.57 inch thick (the 40 GB model is a bit thicker, at 0.69 inch), has a nice feel in your hand at 5.6 ounces (or 6.2 ounces, if you have the 40 GB model).

It's also easier to smudge than you might have guessed. The ultra reflective back plate is a visual delight, but the second you touch your iPod, fingerprints and smudges will mar its surface. If smears and smudges bother you, carry a soft eyeglass cleaning cloth, and buff the back whenever the mood strikes.

Not so obvious are what lurks within the iPod and what the device can do. I'll clear up the mystery in the remaining pages of this book.

Remote Control and Case: Free No More

If you have an older iPod that shipped with Apple's Remote Control and carrying case, you may wonder why I've failed to mention those items here. They've mostly gone the way of the dodo, that's why.

Well, not exactly. The free versions of these doodads have performed this very lifelike imitation of the famed flightless bird, unless you've purchased an iPod Photo. In the case of the picture-perfect iPod, the case is still bundled. However, when Apple released the fourth-generation iPod, it offered the 20 and 40 GB models at $100 less than third-generation iPods of the same capacity. To help maintain profits, Apple pulled the remote control and case from the box. But it continues to sell each for $39 a pop.

While there was some griping when people unwrapped the first few new fourth-generation iPods and failed to discover these items, I have to admit that I don't miss them. Although some people find the remote control very handyit is, after all, a nicely designed piece of gear that allows you to command your iPod without removing it from a pocket or casenot everyone used it. (I, for example, have three of the things sealed in their original wrappers.) And as you'll learn in Chapter 9, I'm not terribly impressed with Apple's case. It's stylish but doesn't offer enough protection to suit me; neither does it allow access to the iPod's front controls.

Frankly, I'm thrilled that Apple saved me a hundred smackers by making these items pay-us-if-you-want-them options.