16.4 Fun and Informative iPod Web Sites

Official Web sites are fine for software updates, hardware news, and technical information. But for truly passionate commentary , you just can't find more love, hate, and strong opinions than on the iPod fan Web sites.

16.4.1 iPoding

iPoding (http://www.ipoding.com) satisfies the need (if you have one) for breaking news, industry gossip, shareware sharing, and technical discussions about taking iPods apart to see how they work (Figure 16-2). The site has a great section of tips for maintaining your iPod and learning how to use it better, especially with Windows and Linux computers.

Figure 16-2. iPoding keeps tabs on all the latest shareware and news. An iPod product guide, links to the VersionTracker site for iPod shareware, and sections covering everything from iPod repair to iPod humor make regular iPoding an entertaining yet educational adventure.

Opinionated and sometimes delightfully snarky, iPoding's registered members post articles and lively personal commentary about what's going on in the iPod world. For example, this is the site that first discovered and explained the iPod's secret diagnostic mode (see Section 15.1.4).

NOTE

Rumor sites are dishy and fun. Sometimes they post accurate leaks of upcoming products (like the 2003 iPod models). Sometimes they post nothing but wishful thinking.

If Apple gossip makes you happy, point your browser to ThinkSecret (http://www.thinksecret.com), MacRumors (http://www. macrumors .com), or Apple Insider (http://www. appleinsider .com).

16.4.2 iPodLounge

The iPodLounge (http://www.ipodlounge.com) tag line is "All Things iPod," and they're not kidding (Figure 16-3). Its fans discuss the iPod in detail on the site's message forums. The site posts links that lead directly back to Apple's technical library articles for troubleshooting issues, but iPodLounge also has its own Tips & Tricks section and Frequently Asked Questions list. If you're looking for software and shareware, the Downloads page has links to Apple's iPod software updaters, plus scads of iPod shareware for Macintosh, Windows, and Linux.

Figure 16-3. iPodLounge is not only one of the earliest independent iPod sites around the Web, it's also one of the most well designed and organized. The site is a comprehensive, regularly updated electronic magazine with sections for news about the iPod, original articles, and reviews of accessories and other merchandise.

16.4.3 iPodHacks

iPodHacks (http://www.ipodhacks.com) has about 10,000 registered members, many of whom contribute their favorite tips, tricks, and hacks to the message boards . The site has a live iPodChat forum for members from around the world to discuss whatever's on their minds and iPods.

16.4.4 iPod Anonymous

iPod Anonymous (http://www.ipodlaughs.com) is a rib- tickling collection of Podly Web programming that bills itself as "a growing collection of time-passing utilities" for people addicted to their iPods. Once of the site's most humorous areas is iAshamed, a place where readers can post the titles of the most awful songs they are embar-rassed to admit they have on their iPods. Other sections include a weekly photo-manipulation forum called iPocalypse Photoshop and the iPod Engraving Utility (Figure 16-4), where you can electronically engrave your favorite phrase on a virtual iPod for fun (or as a preview of what it might look like if you want to fork over $19 and have Apple engrave your next Pod).

Figure 16-4. Just type in your words of wisdom, click the button, and see your saying virtually carved in chrome. You can also read the words of those who came before you from a link on the iPod Engraving Utility page on the iPod Anonymous site.

NOTE

Thanks to Apple's global reach, the iPod has developed quite an international following and inspired Web sites in several languages. If you're into languages and want an interesting worldview , try http://www.ipodfanatic.com for a French perspective, the iPod sections at http://www.macnews.de for German notions, iPod inspirations in Italian at http://www.ipod.it, or go Dutch at http://www.macosx.nl. http://Google.com can even translate for you.

16.4.5 MacInTouch

Known to many diehard Macintosh fans for its Apple- related news and reasoned analysis since 1994, the venerable MacInTouch site has a section devoted to the iPod at http://www.macintouch.com/ipod.html. Written mostly as an epistolary exchange among the site's readers, the iPod Reader Report starts at the beginning when the iPod was first announced and follows the reactions , observations, and comments from MacInTouch contributors as they discover new things about Apple's music player.