Turning Off an iPod

To turn off an iPod, press and hold down the Play/Pause button for a second or two. The iPod screen will turn off. You can turn off the iPod from any screen, regardless of whether music is playing. If you aren't playing music, iPods will turn off themselves after a period of inactivity to conserve their battery.

The Absolute Minimum

iPods are great devices that do all sorts of cool things. Like any other piece of technology, iPod controls can require a bit of getting used to before using one becomes second nature to you. Fortunately, as you have seen in this chapter, the iPod's design does make sense, and after you gain an understanding of how the menus and screens are laid out, you won't have any trouble learning to use them in detail, which is where we are headed next. For now, review the following list to see where you've been:

• To hear your iPod's music, you need to attach an output device to it, such as headphones or powered speakers.

• You control an iPod with its Click Wheel. To select an option on a menu, you slide your finger or thumb (and why isn't the thumb included in the term finger anyway?) around the Click Wheel to move up or down the menu. When the option you want is highlighted, press the Select button. You can control music playback by pressing the Click Wheel near the icons on its face; for example, to play or pause music, you press the Click Wheel at the bottom of the wheel (at the 270° position for you technical types) where Play/Pause is located.

• iPods have a menu structure that enables you to access its various screens and commands; in this chapter, you saw an overview of these.

• You won't always be using an iPod in bright conditions; its Backlight helps you see the screen better.

• You turn on the Hold switch to prevent unintentionally activating commands.

• To turn off an iPod, press and hold the Play button until its screen turns off.