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Authors: iPod Shuffle Fan Book

Publisher: O'Reilly

ISBN: 0-596-10070-1

Edition: First - August 2005

Pages: 96

Price: $9.95 US, $13.95 CA, £6.95 UK

iPod Shuffle Fan Book by J.D. Biersdorfer has a rather unfortunate tag line. It states on the cover that, "Life is a playlist." I'm not even sure I know what that means. I mean, yeah, it's a spin on Apple's "Life is random" campaign, but that at least made sense. With "Life is a playlist," is O'Reilly claiming that our lives are merely pieces of others' projects that we organize how we want? Maybe they're just saying that we work with what we're given, and that the best we can do is organize things the way we want them. Either way, it's terribly depressing. Luckily, the colors on the cover are bright pink and green, and those are fairly happy colors (unless you have something against the Delta Zetas).

This is the second iPod Fan Book I've reviewed (see iPod Fan Book and iPod & iTunes Hacks), and, unfortunate tag line aside, I like this one a bit better. This is mainly because I feel the iPod shuffle itself is more conducive to such a book. Whereas the iPod is a tiny machine with plenty of power that already lets you access your music the way you want, the iPod shuffle is a tiny machine with very little power that mainly forces you to listen to your music the way it wants. For some people, this is all well and good. For everyone else, the iPod Shuffle Fan Book will help you...well...turn your life into a playlist, I guess.

iPod Shuffle Fan Book is broken down into the following seven chapters:

1. Getting Started with iPod Shuffle
2. iTunes: Can't Stop the Music
3. Filling with iPod Shuffle with Music
4. Playing with Playlists
5. iPod Shuffle as Pocket USB Drive
6. Cool Stuff for Your iPod Shuffle
7. More iPod Shuffle Resources

As you can tell by looking, some chapters will be more useful to you than others, but each serves its purpose. Chapter one, for instance, doesn't contain anything that's not covered in the iPod Shuffle manual or should otherwise be obvious, but I learned long ago that what's obvious to me may be a source of frustration to others, and vice versa. Chapter two, aside from containing the popular Bruce Jenner/Village People reference joke, digs a bit deeper into iTunes, and is therefore more useful, especially considering the iPod Shuffle relies so heavily on iTunes for its functionality.

As a man who loves his old 3G iPod and couldn't figure out the usefulness of the iPod shuffle, chapters three and four got me going. There are tips for adding and deleting songs, keeping the Shuffle active in iTunes even when it's not connected to your computer, etc. Some tips for populating your playlists are offered, as well, but it seems to me that this was put in to either a.) pad out the book or b.) highlight the author's taste in music. Actually, I hope this isn't the author's taste in music, because the songs suggested for the various mixes better reflect the thoughts of someone who doesn't actually have a personal taste in music (our own Pat Miller had better advice). Jennifer Garner's Celebrity Playlist is included as well, for some reason, and although her choice of music is as bad as her choice of movies to star in, it's at least cohesive.

The chapter on using the iPod shuffle as a pocket USB drive is helpful to those who may have not even considered such a use for the Shuffle, and the book is then rounded out with chapters on Shuffle accessories and resources. The accessories chapter is tricky, as such chapters are almost always outdated by the time the book goes to print. It does provide some good suggestions for what's out there, though, and you'll probably stumble across better items while searching for those mentioned. I recommend just visiting the Think Different Store (of course) and seeing what's new.

iPod Shuffle Fan Book isn't the most detailed resource out there, but it's not really meant to be. It's light and stylish, like the iPod Shuffle itself, and it offers about as much as the iPod shuffle offers. It's designed to look good on the coffee table, not on the shelf with the computer manuals, and needs to be considered as such. Although Shuffle owners will learn a few things from it, I think it's better put to use as an iPod shuffle marketing tool; a chance for others to see what the Shuffle can do since, you know, you're not going to share yours with them. It would also make a nice companion to the iPod shuffle if you're giving that to someone as a gift. The Shuffle itself is priced for those who may want to try out a personal MP3 player but who aren't wholly dedicated to it. The iPod Shuffle Fan Book may be just what such a person would need.

Especially if she's a Delta Zeta.