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iPods & MP3 Players
iPod
Basics for the Beginner
If you are not a computer genius, picking
up an electronic device like the the iPod can seem like translating
Greek or another foreign language. However, the iPod
is gaining popularity and you do not want to be left out in
the cold. Face it, even the youngest of children are learning how to
work these new devices with ease. Learning how to use your
iPod doesn’t have to be difficult. Once you learn the basics,
it will become second nature.
The
iPod is a portable digital music and video player made
by Apple. Apple designed the iPod to work with the iTunes media
library software, which lets users manage the music libraries
on their computers and on their iPods. iTunes can automatically
synchronize a user's iPod with specific playlists or with the
entire contents of a music library each time an iPod connects
to a host computer. Users may also set a rating (out of 5 stars)
on any song, and can synchronize that information to an iTunes
music library. Apart from iTunes there are also several third-party
applications available that can be used to transfer songs to
the iPod. iTunes lacks the ability to transfer songs from iPod
to computer because of legality issues, although there are
third party programs that tackle that issue.
The
iPods (other than the iPod shuffle) have five buttons:
- 'Menu'
(which backs up one level in the menus)
- 'Play/Pause'
(which plays or pauses the track in play)
- 'Previous'
(which skips back through tracks in play)
- 'Next'
(which skips forward through tracks in play)
- 'Center'
(the button in the center of the scroll wheel; this selects
a menu or a menu item)
A 'Hold' switch also exists on the top of the unit. Setting
this switch to display orange will make the buttons and scroll
wheel unresponsive, so that users do not activate them accidentally.
There are many varieties and types of iPods. Do not get confused
when you go shopping for your new portable music device. Shop
and compare and if you are computer-challenged, do a little
research. An iPod and a run of the mill MP3 player are not
the same thing. Before buying, know what you are looking at
before going to the store. Also, another good thing to remember
when shopping for an iPod is that when you download music off
of the Internet, it is most likely not free. Most legal music
download sites will charge some fee per downloaded song. In
addition, be careful and know what you are downloading before
doing so. Not all of these sites are the same.
Fourth and fifth generation iPods, second generation iPod
minis, iPod nanos and iPod shuffles automatically pause playback
when headphones are unplugged from the headphone jack. They
however, do not start playing again after insertion of the
headphones by default.
The iPods with FireWire ports can be put into FireWire Disk
Mode, in which it behaves like a FireWire hard drive without
any of the additional iPod functionality.
An iPod unable to start (due to either a firmware or a hardware
problem) displays the sad face.
All iPods come with headphones with white cords and earbuds,
the color matching that of the initial iPod. The white cords
have become symbolic of the iPod brand, and advertisements
for the devices feature them prominently. Despite the fact
that new generations of the iPod now appear in black as well
as white, the cords remain white. In addition, you can spice
up your plain iPod by purchasing all sorts of decals and “skins”
for your device. There is no need to have a plain iPod when
you can personalize it to your heart’s content.
Some users add extra bass to the standard white headphones
by using Griffin Earjams - a clip on accessory that makes it
possible to insert the headphones into the ear, using soft
rubber adapters. However, using Earjams can be uncomfortable
to some users with sensitive ears. Apple themselves have an
alternative to the default earphones: the in-ear headphones,
which have significantly better sound quality and bass response,
and also come with different size caps for comfort.
There are three models of iPod on the market today. These
are:
• iPod (30 GB and 60 GB).
• iPod nano (1 GB, 2 GB, and 4 GB).
• iPod shuffle (512 MB and 1 GB).
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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