Because the iPod has such a compact and streamlined form, you might think of it as only an individual, private musical device. With headphones this is, of course, true. But it's very easy to hook an iPod into a more public music system. Whether you connect it to a mini FM broadcasterso that you can hear your music on any nearby radioor to speakers for direct playback, an iPod is definitely portable but not necessarily private. With iPod in hand, and a single cable, Christopher can take his favorite music on the road, ready to hook into any available stereo system for a public music experience. NOTE The law prohibits the public playing of copyrighted musicwhether from CD or iPod or record album. Restaurants and retailers know this and tend not to put their private music collection over loudspeakers. They can be seriously fined. Instead, they often choose licensed collections (from services like Musak, AEI, DMX, and so on), for which they pay a small fee. The only way you can play your iPod over a stereo, legally, is if it's for a private groupyourself, your friends, your home. Christopher gets to play his iPod at the ceramics studio because it's a private party. At the ceramics studio, Christopher checks with Jennifer, the studio owner, then plugs his iPod into the store's sound system. The cable required is different on each end: a 1/8-inch stereo miniplug to go into the iPod; a pair of RCA phone plugs on the other end, to go into a stereo.
NOTE If you're using an iPod with its Dock, the Dock sports its own plug for a "Line" connection to the stereo (it looks just like the little hole on the top of the iPod itself). You can select either plug to connect; they work in the same way. With your iPod hooked up, set the stereo to play from the AUX source (or whichever source you hooked the iPod into) and start playing the music from your party playlist. |