If you're like most people, you don't want to waste time getting your spiffy new iPod up and running. You probably don't want to wade through anything longer than a couple of paragraphs. Oh, and you'd like some color pictures, too.
Sure, Apple thoughtfully includes a little pamphlet of starter info with every iPod it sells. It's nicely designed as far as pamphlets go. But you may find that it doesn't go far enough. You want more help than a few line drawings and some haiku-like instructions.
This book—especially this chapter—can help you out.
You won't get bogged down in a bland gray ocean of print here. You'll learn a bit about your particular iPod model and how to get it whistling sweet tunes in your ear in a minimal amount of time. If you want more information on in-depth iPodding or getting the most out of iTunes, you can find that stuff in chapters farther down the road.
But for now, it's time to get rolling with your new iPod. Ready?
In just a few short years, Apple has transformed the iPod from a humble little 5-gigabyte music player with a black-and-white screen into a full color, gorgeous portable media system that can play movies, TV shows, and video games—all while still fitting comfortably in the palm of your hand. And it's come a long way from those first 5 gigabytes: now you can stuff 120 gigabytes of music, photos, videos, and more onto it.
In those 120 gigabytes, you can fit 30,000 songs or 150 hours of video. And you don't have to stock up on the Duracells, either, because the iPod's rechargeable battery can play audio for 36 hours or last for 6 hours if you're glued to your video library.
The iPod Classic comes in either silver or black. Unlike earlier iPods that sported hard glossy plastic on the front, Apple's latest version comes outfitted in a full metal jacket—anodized aluminum on the front and shiny stainless steel on the back.
Along with the click wheel—think of it as the iPod's mouse—the 2.5-inch color screen is the player's other main element. Capable of displaying more than 65,000 colors at a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels (translation: high-quality), the iPod's a great place to store and show off your latest vacation photos. In fact, you can have up to 25,000 pictures on your 'Pod. The screen also makes it a delight to catch up on that episode of The Daily Show you missed, or play a few rounds of solitaire while listening to your favorite music or podcast.
The iPod comes with everything you need to hook it up to your Windows PC or Macintosh: a USB 2.0 cable. You also get those iconic see-what-I've-got white earphones. Once you get up and iPodding, you'll find that everyone and their grandmother wants to sell you other iPod accessories—all you have to do is stroll down to your favorite computer store and browse the ever increasing selection of cases, cables, battery chargers, and more.
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