The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide
All the Secrets of the iPod, Pocket-Sized
review by
Tony Nappa
The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide
Christopher Breen /
Peachpit Press
Reader Appeal: Anyone who
has an iPod!
Genre: Technology
The iPod & iTunes
Pocket Guide is a really helpful tool to all iPod owners. It tells all sorts
of secrets, answers questions, and even advises good cases and holders to buy.
This book is about how to
use an iPod and iTunes to get the maximum benefit, and how to avoid common problems while using them.
For example, my iPod freezes up sometimes for no apparent reason. In fact, mine froze the day before I received this book! The only thing I could think to do was just to let the battery run out and then recharge it so would work again. But after checking my handy Pocket Guide, I found that this book plainly shows how to “unfreeze” an iPod simply by plugging it in to a charger and then holding a few buttons (which vary depending on the type of iPod you have). Easy fix and a great "secret" to have on hand!
Also there are sometimes when music gets stuck on an iPod. The Pocket Guide takes you step by step through how to correct this problem by finding the problem folder (which is invisible) and removing it from the iPod or the computer. Another great feature of this book is that it covers almost all of the versions of iPod, clearly explaining them and walking through how to do all of the things in the book, regardless of which iPod you own.
Another really
helpful section in the Pocket Guide is the iTunes portion of the book. Here
you'll find all the basic information needed to easily and effectively shop in the iTunes
online store (because some
people--like myself--might not intuitively know how to use that store and can
use help figuring
it out). Those are just some of the helpful tips, hints, and walkthroughs that
this book offers to the readers.
I found very few weaknesses to this book. One shortcoming, though, is that it doesn’t cover 5th generation iPods such as the nano and the video. Still, even though these aren’t talked about in the book, much of the information here still applies to the newer iPods anyway. There are some really basic things that the Pocket Guide explains that probably didn’t need to be explained--but then again, some people might think the iTunes online store doesn't need to be explained either.
, there really isn’t that much wrong with this book
and even though I haven’t tried everything in it, all of the things I have
tried have worked so I’m betting that most of it should work!
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who owns an iPod. It is written in an easy-to-understand format and is chock full of practical, helpful information to help you get the most out of your musical investment in modern technology.
I would also recommend this to parents of children with iPods so that you can understand the equipment your child is using--and so you can be a hero if your kid needs to know how to fix some problematic feature on his or her iPod.
Also, The iPod and
iTunes Pocket Guide provides great information for moms and dads who want to
take advantage of the parental controls feature on the
iTunes store.
FAMILYFANS RATING: B+
--TN