Chapter 6. iPod: iTunes to Go

IN THIS CHAPTER:

Transfer Your Music and Videos to Your iPod

Put Your Home Movies and Downloaded Videos on Your iPod

Use a Large iTunes Library with a Small iPod

Autofill Your iPod Shuffle or iTunes Phone

Transfer Your Music to a Mobile Device

Find and Play Music on the iPod

Find and Play Videos on the iPod

Rate Your Music on the iPod

Transfer Only Preferred Music to the iPod

Create an On-The-Go Playlist

Listen to an Audiobook or Podcast at Home and On the Go

About the Care and Feeding of Your iPod

The first iPod was released within a year of iTunes, in November 2001, and it's been a smash hit since day one. It wasn't the first portable digital music player on the marketnot by a long shotand it wasn't even the first high-capacity, hard-drive-based player either. What made the iPod such a runaway success was a combination of its small size, its high capacity, its seamless integration with iTunes, and (perhaps most importantly) its groundbreaking user interface. With the navigation wheel enabling you to scroll quickly through lists of hundreds or thousands of songs, zero-in immediately on the one you want, and dig down into the hierarchical collection of music using the same implicit organizational methods as iTunes used (instead of the arcane files and folders of contemporary players), the iPod truly wasas its original marketing described it"iTunes to go."

The iPod was designed specifically so that the process of synchronizing it with your computer's music collection would be just a matter of plugging it in and waiting for the few seconds necessary for your music to be transferred to the iPod over the high-speed FireWire or USB 2.0 connection. Ideally, under the right conditions, that's all it will involve: Just plug your iPod into its Dock whenever you return to your computer, and not only will its battery always remain fully charged, the music and videos in your iTunes Library will always be synchronized with your iPod so that you can grab it and go, your newly purchased or imported entertainment readily available right in your pocket.

However, there are some complicating factors to keep in mind. Your iPod, for instance, might not have enough capacity to contain all the music in your Library. This is especially true of the budget, ultra-portable iPod shuffle with its comparatively tiny 1 gigabyte (GB) capacity. Video files, because of their large size, need to be managed carefully so that they don't eat up all the space on your iPod. Additionally, synchronizing your music carries with it some complexities regarding special kinds of audio files, such as audiobooks and podcasts, and the handling of unique features such as On-The-Go Playlists that you create on your iPod and sync back into iTunes.

Note

Because every iPod model is of a slightly different thickness, the Dock must be specially fitted with an insert that has the right size slot for your iPod. If you're buying a Dock separately, be sure that it comes with the right snap-on shell for your particular iPod model. (At the time of this writing, the Dock comes with inserts for all currently available iPods.)