iPod Fan Book

Rating:
Summary: Ideal gift for iPod lovers
Review:
This is the perfect book to go along with an iPod. The book is very small, cleverly designed with good use of graphics. It's well written and covers everything from the basics, to choosing headphones, to extending your iPod with jackets, external speakers, the whole bit. For anyone new to iPods this would be an excellent introduction to making the best use of it, without being an overwhelmingly large book.

Rating:
Summary: Cute
Review: A compact and cute little book. That deliberately seeks to be a carry on accessory to your iPod. It has information on items like headphones and how to best use an iPod in an environment like a car.

What the book shows is that the iPod's appearance is deceptively simple. There is actually a fair amount of detailed usage that you can avail yourself of. The book also describes how iPod can distribute playlists amongst each other, in what is probably now a global community.

Rating:
Summary: Ipodesque Design is Perfect
Review: Apple claims to have sold more than 6 million iPods to date and based on its trademark ease of use, 6 million is surely just the beginning. This cute, little book is a perfect companion to the phenomenon in that it presents a wealth of iPod information from downloading and ripping songs to managing playlists and much more all in the same funky Mac/iPoddy style that will appeal to users. Its tabby, buttonny page layouts are perfectly in sync with the design of the product it's describing. If you're buying somebody an iPod as a gift, this would be a perfect additional "throw-in" to introduce them to the "iPod lifestyle" as well.

Rating:
Summary: As cool (and fun) as the iPod itself
Review: The book is small (6" by 6") and, for lack of a better word, cool. Every image is in full color, so no fuzzy shades of grey to squint at - and it's not just the images, color is used throughout. The cover is interesting - there is a full cover over the whole book and second cover over the top of the first which only covers the bottom two-thirds of the book. Functional? Hmmm... Use it as a bookmark, I suppose - regardless, it looks cool. The table of contents - though the term "table of contents" seems a bit drab in this case - are available on the edge of every page.

There is suprising amount of substance inside as well. While it does not go into a lot of detail, it does give a good feel for a wide variety of things pertaining to your iPod. It has plenty of info on iPod accessories like headphones, infrared remote, cases, and if you can call a BMW an iPod accessory, it's got info on that, too. There are also descriptions on how to enjoy DVD soundtracks on your iPod; how to record internet radio; battery management tips; how to transform your iPod into a PDA; how to download song lyrics. There are probably better books for in-depth details on the iPod, but this one doesn't disappoint.

Am I a sucker for a cool looking book? Guilty - you should see my coffee table. For me, the fact that it contains useful information as well is just icing on the cake.