Digital Music & Video

Superguide

$12.95

Table of Contents Adding Music to iTunes

couch. All you need is this quick tutorial and some popcorn.

33 Converting Video Turn DVDs and movies already on your hard drive into iPhone-ready files with the step-by-step instructions in this section.

6 Mastering the iTunes Store Learn the basics of using the iTunes Store including the skinny on what DRM really is and how it could affect your purchasing decisions.

37 Beyond iTunes The Web is brimming with alternative, legal, and even free sources for downloading and streaming your favorite TV shows and movies.

12 Ripping CDs the Smart Way

Staying Organized in iTunes

Before you can enjoy your digital music library, you have to get the songs into iTunes. Whether you’re still buying CDs or just want to digitize your old collection, follow these simple instructions for ripping the highest quality files and choosing the best file format for your setup.

40 Setting Up and Navigating the iTunes Library

17 Digitizing Old Cassettes and LPs Don’t just leave your mix tapes and record collections warping in the attic; dust them off and give them a second life on your iPod.

The first step in organizing your media library is having a strategy for where and how to store your audio and video files. Following these tips will make getting around a snap and help you tame an overflowing hard drive.

21 Discovering New Music Stuck in a rut? Freshen up your library with new music. We cover some of the best options for finding new tunes including social networking sites, podcasts, and free MP3s.

44 Adding Tags Under iTunes’ surface lies a powerful tool for organizing your digital media. It’s called a tag. We explain how to add tags and increase your library sorting power.

23 Importing Audiobooks If you’d rather listen to the latest best seller, this section has everything you need to know to download, format, and enjoy audiobooks on your iPod or iPhone.

48 Finding Album Art The cherry on the top of any good music collection is attractive art. However, files you rip or download from other sources often don’t include this feature. Learn how to find, add, and flip through the album covers in your library.

Getting Video 26 Get Video from iTunes

51 Singing Along with Lyrics

Apple makes it easy to buy or rent videos with the iTunes Store. We’ll help you get your bearings, master the pricing structure, and play videos on your iPod, iPhone, and computer.

Liner notes are dead. Long live liner notes! We’ll show you how to find and fill out your song information with lyrics.

53 Taming a Large Library with Smart Playlists The larger your collection, the harder it can be to keep organized. Luckily, smart playlists can bring order to the chaos. Build your own or use one of our handy templates.

30 Apple TV Content Buy, rent, or convert videos and use the Apple TV to watch them as the studios intended, from your

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

2

Finding the Best Accessories

59 Working with Podcasts Do more than just subscribe to a podcast—tweak its preferences, see hidden info, and share it with others.

Managing Devices

86 Cases iPhones and iPods are beautiful devices, but they’re still prone to drops and scratches. Protect your iPhone or iPod with one of our favorite cases.

62 Syncing iPods and iPhones Move music, videos, and podcasts from your computer to your iPod or iPhone and then back again with these syncing basics.

88 Headphones Apple’s earbuds are serviceable, but if you really want to take your audio to the next level, try upgrading to a set of these high-quality headphones.

66 Syncing the Apple TV Bring your Apple TV and computer in sync. Choose exactly which content you want and see what formats are Apple TV-friendly.

90 Car Accessories

67 Handling Multiple Devices

91 Speakers

What if you have one library but multiple devices to load it on? With these instructions, moving protected media between your iPod, iPhone, computer, and Apple TV is a breeze.

Whether you’re on the go, in your living room, or at your desk, one of these sweet speaker systems is the perfect choice for pumping up the volume.

Take your tunes on the road with these FM transmitters, power adapters, and cassette adapters.

70 Extending Your Battery’s Life Wring more power out of iPods and iPhones by following these simple rules. For devices already losing their charge, we’ll tell you how to get a new battery on the cheap.

Troubleshooting Media Problems

The Macworld Digital Music & Video Superguide Editor

74 Taming iTunes

Mike Kisseberth Jason snell

Managing editor associate editor copy editor

Jennifer werner heather Kelly peggy Nauts

art director designers

Before you get flustered by missing files, denied access, absent audio, or other glitches, check out this section on common iTunes issues.

Kelly Turner

president and ceo Vp, editorial director

production director prepress Manager

rob schultz lori Flynn, carli Morgenstein steve spingola Tamara gargus

Macworld is a publication of Mac Publishing, L.L.C., and International Data Group, Inc. Macworld is an independent journal not affiliated with Apple, Inc. Copyright © 2008, Mac Publishing, L.L.C. All rights reserved. Macworld, the Macworld logo, the Macworld Lab, the mouse-ratings logo, MacCentral.com, PriceGrabber, and Mac Developer Journal are registered trademarks of International Data Group, Inc., and used under license by Mac Publishing, L.L.C. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc. Printed in the United States of America.

81 Soothing a Troubled iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV Are your devices acting up? Before taking your iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV to the Genius Bar, try fixing what ails it with our easy-to-follow advice.

Have comments or suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

3

Contributors Senior Contributor Ted Landau continues to ferret out new ways to get into and out of trouble with your Mac. His latest book, Take Control of Your iPhone (Take Control Books, 2008), extends this perspective to the iPhone.

Senior Editor Christopher Breen is the author of The iPod and iTunes Pocket Guide, third edition, and The iPhone Pocket Guide, second edition (Peachpit Press, 2008). Senior Editor Dan Frakes reviews iPod, iPhone, and audio gear for Macworld and runs the Mac Gems and Mobile Mac Weblogs on Macworld.com.

Senior Contributor Kirk McElhearn writes about Macs and much more. Visit his blog Kirkville (www. mcelhearn.com) for information about Macs, iPods, books, and music.

Freelance writer Michael Gowan wrote about where to find video online for the Getting Video chapter. He lives in North Carolina.

Associate Editor Dan Moren is the editor of MacUser.com and a contributor to the iPhone Central blog.

Senior Contributor Jim Heid is the author of The Macintosh iLife ’08 (Peachpit Press, 2008) and its companion Web site, www.maclife.com.

Jon Seff is Macworld’s senior news editor and resident expert on converting video files for the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and any other medium imaginable.

Mathew Honan writes about technology for The National Journal’s Technology Daily, Salon.com, and Wired. He has a Mac-oriented blog at mac.honan.net.

ALSo FroM THE EDiTorS oF Macworld…

get more insider tips and troubleshooting advice from the Mac experts. our superguide series offers useful insights and step-by-step instructions for the latest Mac hardware and software. each of the books in the series is available in one of three different formats: as a downloadable pdF for im-

mediate access; on cd for easy, offline storage; or as a full-color bound book printed on high-quality paper. go to macworld.com/superguide-offer to order any of the superguide books Enter the code or to download a MWREADER6 free preview.

to get a discount on your next order.

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

4

Adding Music to iTunes The Best ways to digitize records, Find the latest hits, and rip cds

T

hanks to iTunes, our music collections have never sounded so sweet. apple’s powerful digital jukebox puts your entire music collection at your fingertips and lets you create custom mixes of your favorite tunes. But before you can take advantage of all that a digital music collection has to offer, you’ll need to convert your old music— including cds, tapes, and old records—into a format iTunes understands. The choices you make here will affect not just how your music sounds, but also how you use it and how much room it takes up on your ipod and your computer’s hard drive. we’ll show you which settings to use for the best results and how to build a library that will grow with you over time.

Table of conTenTs

6 12 17 21 23

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

5

Mastering the iTunes store ripping cds the smart way digitizing old cassettes and lps discovering New Music importing audiobooks

Adding Music to itunes

Mastering the iTunes Store W

Follow Your Mood If you know what type of music you’re interested in, you can peruse just that category by clicking on the Genres pull-down menu C next to the Music entry in the iTunes store column. If you find a genre a little too broad, you can further narrow your search by clicking on browse D, choosing Music from the leftmost column, and selecting your genre from the Genre column. a list of subgenres will appear in the next column. for example, click on alternative to restrict your search to just Grunge or college Rock. Follow ThAT SoNg click on a song title, album title, or album cover, and you’ll jump to a page devoted to that album. If you’re interested in the artist but not in that particular album, click on the artist’s name. iTunes will take you to a page devoted to works by that artist. artist pages are an excellent resource for finding lesser-known works by a favorite artist. You can also sign up for alerts to be notified whenever something new by that artist comes out. Want to know which albums sold the most copies? change the sort by menu to best-sellers.

hen you’re in the mood for something new, one of the first places to stop is the iTunes store, where you can browse albums, purchase songs à la carte, and even write reviews. To access the store, open iTunes and click on the iTunes store entry in the source list (you must have an Internet connection). The store is a great way to discover new music, rediscover old favorites, and keep track of beloved artists.

Finding New Tunes With all that music for sale—not to mention TV shows, movies, games, podcasts, and more—the iTunes store can feel overwhelming at times. Here are some tips for tracking down your favorite tunes without getting lost. ThiS JuST iN If the song you’re looking for came out fairly recently, you may find it in the new Releases section A within the Music tab in the top center of the store’s front page (see “Inside the iTunes store”). To see a complete list of new releases, click on the see all B button.

c

b a

d

inside the iTunes Store The home page of the iTunes store gives you quick access to the latest releases, the biggest hits, and recommendations. The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

6

Adding Music to itunes

Tracking down Tracks Use the Power search feature to search for multiple terms, such as sonatas composed by bach available in the iTunes Plus format.

Needle iN A hAYSTAck If you have something specific in mind, you can type your query into the search bar at the top of the window to track it down. To limit your search to a particular type of content, click on the all Results pull-down menu in the top-left corner of the search results page and select the appropriate entry. by clicking on Music, for example, you can restrict the search to songs, albums, and music videos. still having trouble finding what you want? click on Power search to bring up an expanded search bar (or choose store: search). from here you can add specific search terms—for example, to limit your search to the composer or song title (see “Tracking Down Tracks”). The Power search tool is also handy if you know multiple bits of information—for example, the title and genre—or if you want to locate songs that you can turn into a ringtone for the iPhone.

to five computers, transfer music files to an unlimited number of iPods and iTunes-enabled phones, and burn those songs onto audio cDs (though you’re limited to burning seven cDs of a playlist containing a DRM-protected song). Those restrictions were among the conditions record companies set before they let apple sell their songs. Understandably, they didn’t want an iTunes user to be able to buy a song once and then share it willy-nilly with friends, or the world, via the net. but the limitations

TiP

Stay in the loop want to have apple deliver information about the latest additions right to your digital doorstep? here’s just the thing: custom rss feeds. Visit the iTunes store rss Feed generator (macworld.com/0880), and you can create feeds based on all types of data, such as new releases in blues and French pop, top audiobooks, or just-added jazz. when you click on the generate button, the site gives you a feed url that you can enter in any rss reader, including safari or Mail 3.

understanding drM Until recently, everything apple has sold on the iTunes store has been governed by the fairPlay DRM (digital rights management) system. DRM is designed to protect the rights of content owners—musicians, record labels, movie studios, and the like. but it can collide with the desires of consumers who want to enjoy the music and videos they buy whenever and wherever they want. faIRPlaY DRM apple’s DRM system lets you play songs you’ve bought at the iTunes store on up

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

7

Adding Music to itunes

affect not just who can listen to your tracks but also how you listen to them. for example, digital music players from companies such as Roku and slim Devices can’t legally play DRM-protected files, which means you can’t stream the music within your own home without first circumventing the copy protection by recording the songs to an audio cD and then reimporting them. iTuNeS PluS If you find the limitations of DRM frustrating, you now have another option. Recently, apple started offering a limited collection of DRMfree music. called iTunes Plus, the new system not only strips tracks of copy-protection limitations, but also offers higher bit rates—256 Kbps aac versus the protected versions’ 128 Kbps—all for the standard price of 99 cents. (for other places offering unprotected tracks, see “beyond iTunes Plus”) The iTunes store identifies iTunes Plus tracks by placing a small plus sign next to the price. However, you can find iTunes Plus tracks in an easier way. from the iTunes store home page, click on the iTunes Plus item in the Quick links section. Here you’ll find a collection of top albums and songs available in the iTunes Plus format, as well as a Genres pop-up menu that lets you view just pop or classical albums, for example. If you’ve purchased fairPlay tracks from the iTunes store that are now available in the iTunes Plus format, the Upgrade My library entry in the iTunes Plus window will let you know which songs you can update and how much the total cost will be (apple charges 30 cents for each song, 60 cents for each music video, and one-third the current album price for upgrading an entire album). click on the see Details button, and you’re taken to an Upgrade My library screen where you can upgrade your tracks. Regrettably, apple doesn’t currently give you the option to upgrade individual songs in your iTunes library. You must upgrade all the tracks that are now available in the iTunes Plus format (see “Upgrade Your Downloads”). When an iTunes Plus track or album is available, that’s the version you get—you can’t download the smaller, DRM-protected version of the file. It’s also worth noting that although iTunes Plus tracks are unprotected, they’re marked with identifying information. The e-mail address associated with your apple ID is embedded in these files—so unless you want to risk the wrath of the music industry’s legal beagles, you’ll want to keep these files to yourself.

Beyond iTunes Plus iTunes isn’t the only place to find drM-free music. subscription services eMusic (www.emusic.com) and audio lunchbox (www.audiolunchbox.com) have been selling unprotected Mp3 files from the very beginning. amazon also recently began selling unprotected Mp3 files—at prices often slightly below what you’ll find on iTunes. and, unlike online merchants such as wal-Mart, amazon embraces the Mac platform instead of making its service compatible with windows pcs only. concert Vault (concerts.wolfgangsvault.com) offers drM-free Mp3 concert recordings for $10 per show (see “concert Vault”). These tend to be older shows from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The internet archive (www.archive.org) also has live drM-free concert recordings in its live Music archive section. These recordings are free and usually available in a variety of encoding formats including Flac, ogg Vorbis, and different flavors of Mp3. The largehearted Boy (macworld.com/3141) blog includes the a to Z guide to online Music downloads, which links you to multiple sources of free, unprotected music files.

concert Vault If you’re looking for old concert recordings, you can stream or purchase them from concert Vault.

Purchasing Songs The iTunes store makes buying new songs and albums as painless as possible. If you open iTunes’ preferences and click on the store tab, you can choose to enable the buy and Download Using 1-click option to turn purchasing into a one-click affair. simply click on the buy song or buy album button to charge your credit card and begin the download process.

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

8

Adding Music to itunes

and buy album options) to add that item to the shopping cart. To take a look at what you’ve added, click on the shopping cart icon under the store section. You’ll see a list of everything in your cart, as well as the total price of what you’ve chosen. You can then buy individual songs, individual albums, or the whole cart with one click. You can remove items by selecting them and pressing the Mac’s delete key (or switch back to the standard shopping method by selecting the 1-click option in the store preference). In addition, iTunes will suggest other albums based on the items in your cart. giVe YourSelF AN AllowANce If you’re on a strict budget, you can even set up an allowance for yourself. The iTunes Music store lets you give other users a music allowance—in amounts between $10 and $200—that renews automatically each month. To set up an allowance, click on buy iTunes Gifts (under Quick links) on the iTunes store home page, and select set Up allowance now. Regrettably, apple doesn’t let you create an allowance for the account you’ve logged in with. The trick, then, is to create an additional apple ID that supplies your original ID with an allowance. (To do this, you need an e-mail address other than the one you used to create your original apple ID—apple tracks its users by e-mail address.) Here’s how to set it up: from the iTunes store, click on your ID in the account field in the upper right

Shop Savvy iTunes’ store options let you choose whether to make purchases immediately or send selections to a shopping cart.

If this all seems a bit too tempting, you can also put some restrictions on your buying habits. SAVe iT For lATer If you find yourself impulsively splurging on every album that tickles your fancy, you might want a way to force yourself to ponder before you purchase. iTunes provides a financial buffer in the form of a shopping cart, which you activate using the store tab in iTunes’ Preferences. select the buy Using a shopping cart option and click on the oK button (see “shop savvy”). now when you find a song or an album you’re interested in, you’ll click on the add song or add album button (changed from the standard buy song

upgrade Your downloads click on the iTunes Plus link on the main store page to browse only those files without DRM. iTunes will offer to upgrade any fairPlay songs you’ve previously purchased. The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

9

Adding Music to itunes

corner of the iTunes window. In the resulting sign In window, click on sign out. Then click on sign In and select create new account. In the window that appears, agree to the license agreement, create a new account, and then enter your credit card information. (You can create up to five apple IDs with a single credit card number.) once you’ve signed in with the new account, return to the iTunes store’s home page and click on buy iTunes Gifts. select set Up an allowance now, and enter your original apple ID as the recipient of the allowance. You’ll have the option to start an allowance immediately or to have it kick in at the beginning of the next month (see “Get Your allowance”).

get Your Allowance Want to limit your music spending? set up an allowance for yourself.

Share the love

geT A direcT liNk To get a direct link to an artist or album page, just control-click (or right-click) on the name of an artist or album—or to get a link to an individual song, on the arrow to the right of its title—and select copy iTunes store URl from the contextual menu. The URl is now in your clipboard, ready to be pasted into a private e-mail message or added to a Web site. another way to share an iTunes store address is to simply drag and drop a song, an album, or an artist name to the desktop (this creates an Internet shortcut file) or directly into an e-mail message (this adds the URl). This technique also works with iMixes, podcasts, audio books, and more. activating any of these links opens iTunes to the proper page. Add A widgeT iTunes also lets you show off your music tastes on your own Web site by creating widgets, small HTMl snippets that feed live data from your iTunes account. from the iTunes store, click on your account name, enter your password, and then select View account. Then click on Manage My iTunes (or enable My iTunes if it’s not currently enabled). from the resulting page, you can choose from three widgets: one that shows your most recent purchases; one that lists the artists you purchase most often (and thus presumably your favorites); and one that lists movies, music, and TV shows that you’ve rated four stars or more in the iTunes store. To add one of these widgets to your Web site, place a check mark next to its name and click on the Get HTMl code button. Your Web browser will open to a Publish to the Web page. Use this page to style your widget and then click on the copy code button (see “share Your faves”). switch to your Web site, blog, or favorite social networking site (assuming it

sometimes songs or artists touch our lives so profoundly that we just have to share them with friends or relatives. There’s an easy way to do so: just click on the Tell a friend link in the upper left corner of an artist or album page. This brings up a window that lets you send one or more people an e-mail notification with album art and a link to that page. but there are a few less-obvious ways to send links to your pals—great for people who don’t like having their e-mail addresses revealed to apple, or for use as a reference in a blog or a Web site.

TiP

Make a wish list if you don’t want to lose the power of one-click purchases, but would like to keep a running tab of songs you’re interested in, you can use an iTunes playlist to bookmark songs for future purchase. here’s how: create a new playlist in iTunes (for example, “stuff i May Buy”). Then, when you come across a song you like in the iTunes store, drag it on top of the playlist’s icon. when you next view your playlist, you’ll see that it displays your songs’ names, times, artists, albums, and genres—and a handy button for purchasing each one once the 30-second song snippet has sufficiently whetted your appetite.

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

10

Adding Music to itunes

supports third-party widgets) and paste the code (1-P) in the appropriate place.

TiP

Modern Mix Tapes

Be critical

have you created the perfect mix with just the right combination of rocking beats and quiet storm? iTunes lets you give the songs (or videos) in your perfect playlist to other iTunes users. here’s how it works. create a playlist, and then drag tracks onto it. when you’re done, click on the arrow to the right of the playlist in the source list—you’ll have the option of giving the playlist as a gift in addition to creating an iMix. when you buy the gift, you jump to a screen where you enter your name, the e-mail address of your recipient (you enter this twice), and a message. You can send the same gift to multiple people—just type multiple addresses in the recipient field, separated by commas. (apple bills you by the number of addresses you enter.) gift recipients receive an e-mail from the iTunes store, notifying them that they have a gift waiting; they redeem it just as they would any other credit.

If you’re an armchair music critic—and really, who isn’t?—share your thoughts with the world by clicking on the Write a Review link that appears on any album page. add a one- to five-star rating and about 200 words, and your cheers or jeers will show up for all the world to see. but what happens if your tastes change? That black eyed Peas track that seemed so catchy a month ago might drive you crazy now—and you might even be embarrassed that people know you liked it at all. no problem; you can easily delete an old review in your account settings. click on your account name in the upper right corner of the store window, enter your password, and click on View account. click on the Manage Reviews button, and you can delete (but not edit) any of your published reviews. click on the Remove button next to a review, and nobody will ever have to know.

get inspired Want to discover something new? Here are some quick sources within the iTunes store: iTuNeS eSSeNTiAlS iTunes essentials are staff-selected top hits and deep cuts. To find them, enter the Music section of the store and select iTunes essentials from the More In Music box. iMix also located in the More In Music section, these user-submitted playlists can help you discover new artists and hidden gems. Top Rated iMixes also appear on artists’ pages. JuST For You The Just for You section Share Your Faves iTunes will create widgets showing your recent purchases, favorite albums, or top reviews, which you can then place on your own Web site for others to see.

appears on the front page of the iTunes store. It offers personalized recommendations based on past purchases. click on the see all link, and you can refine the suggestions by clicking on the already own It or Don’t like It buttons for suggested albums. not only will this help the iTunes store learn your tastes, but it will also banish the offending albums so they won’t show up in your recommendations again. (You can remove this by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on the Turn Just for You off link.) celeBriTY PlAYliSTS Want to find out what ben folds is into these days? Try looking at his celebrity Playlist. These star-selected lists (accessed from the More In Music section) feature music picked by popular musicians, actors, and writers.

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

11

phoTograph courTesy oF apple, raTaTouille © disNey/pixar. all righTs reserVed

Getting Video how to Buy, rent, convert, sync, and stream Video

A

pple’s iTunes store started out modestly enough as a music-only shop. soon it added video offerings with a handful of TV shows. Now the store has grown into a multimedia empire, with a vast catalog of video that includes TV shows from more than 40 networks (including Bravo, espN, sci Fi, showtime, and comedy central), as well as films from most major studios, such as Miramax Films, pixar animation, Touchstone pictures, and the walt disney company. in addition to the thousands of videos you can rent and buy through apple, you can also use your computer, ipods, iphones, and apple TVs to watch home videos, dVds, free TV, and other content. in this chapter you’ll learn how to find, download, convert, share, and play videos of all kinds.

Table of conTenTs

26 30 33 37

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

25

get Video from iTunes apple TV content converting Video Beyond iTunes

Staying Organized in iTunes easy ways to Take control of Your growing Media collection

B

uilding a digital media library can be addictive. You start with a few of your favorite cds, add some downloads from the iTunes store, and the next thing you know, you have enough material to play music for several weeks without ever hearing the same song twice. of course, few of us actually want to listen to our music collections straight through. and while iTunes’ shuffle feature can add some excitement to your listening habits you’ll probably want to exert a little more control over what iTunes plays and when (unless you don’t mind hearing Tchaikovsky followed by led Zeppelin). Thankfully, iTunes not only plays your media, it also manages it with the help of a powerful database that lets you quickly search, group, and organize your files.

Table Of cOnTenTS

40 44 48 51 53 59

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

39

setting up and Navigating the iTunes library adding Tags Finding album art singing along with lyrics Taming a large library with smart playlists working with podcasts

Managing Devices

Techniques for Juggling Your ipod, iphone, and apple TV content

phoTographs courTesY of apple

I

n a perfect world you would have an all-in-one device that could play all of your music, movies, and TV shows. This miracle hardware would sync effortlessly with any computer you told it to. it would never overwrite or lose files, and its battery wouldn’t have to be recharged but once a year. while apple is probably hard at work on this very creation, for now consumers must master coordinating their ipods, iphones, apple TVs, and computer. This chapter will teach you how to do exactly that. dig in and learn the basics of syncing devices, extending their battery life, and managing multiple ipods and iphones.

Table of conTenTs

62 66 67 70

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

61

syncing ipods and iphones syncing the apple TV handling Multiple devices extending Your Battery’s life

Troubleshooting Media Problems

smart solutions to common Music and Video woes

phoTograph By iMpious

A

pple has put a lot of effort into making iTunes as easy to use as possible—and for the most part, the company has done a great job. But nothing is perfect. at some point in the process of building and maintaining your new digital media library, you’re bound to run into hiccups, slowdowns, and some downright stupid behavior. and iTunes isn’t alone. The ipod, iphone, and apple TV also come with their share of quirks—from mysterious messages to files that refuse to play. The good news is that most of these troubles have solutions. whether you’re dealing with missing songs or a fussy ipod, these tried-and-true fixes should take care of most of the issues you’re likely to encounter.

Table of conTenTs

74 81

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

73

Taming iTunes soothing a Troubled ipod, iphone, or apple TV

Finding the Best Accessories great gadgets and add-ons That Make the Most of Your Media

T

here’s no denying that the ipod and iphone have revolutionized how we consume music and video. But for most people, purchasing the apple product is only the beginning. whether it’s a case for protection, higher-quality headphones for better sound, a set of speakers for listening to music around the house, or a car adapter for hooking up your player to your car stereo, there are hundreds of add-ons that can take your experience to the next level. here are some of the most useful accessories on the market. For more reviews of the latest gear, go to macworld.com/reviews.

TABle oF conTenTs

86 88 90 91

The Macworld digiTal Music & Video superguide

85

cases headphones car accessories speakers

Nobody spends more time with Apple’s revolutionary products than the writers and editors at Macworld, the world’s foremost Mac authority. Now Macworld’s team of experts has used its knowledge to create this straightforward guide to music and video, filled with practical advice for handling digital media on your Mac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. It will lead you through every aspect of building, managing, and enjoying your digital media library. Look inside these pages to find detailed instructions on how to import music from CDs, cassettes, and LPs without compromising sound quality. Learn how to bring order to your digital collection with iTunes’ space-saving features, including smart playlists that sift through your massive library and ferret out the files you want to carry with you. Make your iTunes experience more enjoyable by adding artwork, lyrics, and other custom information to your media. Discover the best ways to create harmony between your Mac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV with tips on syncing your content. And convert video on your hard drive or DVDs into iPod- and iPhone-compatible formats. Our experts also dispense vital troubleshooting advice and recommend their favorite accessories to help you streamline your digital media experience. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned pro, this book will show you how to get the most out of your music and video library.

ISBN 978-0-9789813-7-2

52499 >

9 780978 981372