iPod & iTunes

We designed iPod & iTunes For Dummies, 3rd Edition, as a reference. You can easily find the information you need when you need it. We organized the information so that you can read from beginning to end to find out how to use iTunes and your iPod from scratch. But this book is also designed so that you can dive in anywhere and begin reading because you find all the info you need to know for each task.

We don’t cover every detail of every function of the software, and we inten¬tionally leave out some detail so that we don’t befuddle you with techno-speak when it’s not necessary. (Really, engineers can sometimes provide too many obscure choices that no one ever uses.) We write brief but comprehen¬sive descriptions and include lots of cool tips on how to get the best results from using iTunes and your iPod.

If your PC is on the trailing edge rather than the leading edge, don’t worry — you won’t miss out on the iPod revolution. True, if you don’t use Windows 2000 or Windows XP on your PC, you can’t use iTunes for Windows. However, if you use Windows Me (Millennium Edition), you can use MusicMatch Jukebox. Please note that if you’re using MusicMatch, you can find that content online

Conventions Used in This Book

Like any book that covers computers and information technology, this book uses certain conventions:

* Choosing from a menu: In iTunes, when you see “Choose iTunesO Preferences in iTunes,” you click iTunes on the toolbar and then click Preferences from the iTunes menu.
With the iPod, when you see “Choose ExtrasOCalendars from the iPod main menu,” you highlight Extras in the main menu with the scroll wheel, press the Select button to select Extras, and then highlight and select Calendars from the Extras menu.

* Clicking and dragging: When you see “Drag the song over the name of the playlist,” we mean click the song name, hold the mouse button down, and drag the song with the mouse over to the name of the playlist before lifting your finger off the mouse button.

A Quick Peek Ahead

This book is organized into six parts, with each part covering a different aspect of using your iPod. Here’s a quick preview of what you can find in each part.

Part I: Setting Up and Acquiring Music

This part gets you started with your iPod, powering it up, recharging its bat¬tery, using its menus, and connecting it to your computer. You install and set up the iPod and iTunes software on your Mac or Windows PC. We show you what you can do with iTunes. To acquire music, you can buy music from the iTunes Music Store, or you can rip audio CDs. You also find out how to share your iTunes musicc.

Part II: Managing Your Music

This part shows you how to sort the music in your iTunes library by artist, album, duration, date, and other items. You can add and edit iTunes song information. You discover how to arrange songs and albums into iTunes playlists that you can transfer to your iPod. When you have your music orga¬nized efficiently, transfer it to the iPod. And, for your peace of mind, we cover backing up your music and burning it to a CD, including printing CD jewel case inserts with the song information.

Part III: Playing Music

We show you how to locate and play songs on your iPod and then we move on to various accessories for connecting your iPod to your home stereo and using your iPod on the road with car stereos and portable speakers. You discover how to play music on your iPod through any computer by using advanced DJ techniques, such as cross-fading song playback and using the iTunes Party Shuffle. You also discover how to acquire and play videos in iTunes.

Part IV: Using Advanced Techniques

In this part, you discover digital music encoding and how to change your importing preferences. You can also fine-tune the sound playback with the iTunes equalizer and on your iPod with the iPod equalizer. We describe what you need to record sound and music into your computer from old records and tapes, and how to modify songs in iTunes for playback on your iPod. We cover how to enhance your iTunes library with alternate music sources and Web radio. We also describe how to acquire and play podcasts — radio broadcasts that you can automatically transfer to iTunes and your iPod.

Part V: Have iPod, Will Travel

In this part, use your iPod as a road warrior would: setting your alarm clock, sorting your contacts, recording voice memos, entering personal information into your computer (such as calendar appointments, To-Do lists, and contacts), and synchronizing your iPod with all your personal information. Use a digital camera link to temporarily store photos on the road on your iPod and reclaim the camera’s memory card space to take more photos. Use the color-display iPod to show photos and slideshows on televisions. We also provide trouble¬shooting first steps and details about updating and restoring your iPod.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

In this book’s Part of Tens chapters, we outline common problems and solu¬tions that happen to most iPods and provide tips about the iPod equalizer.