Unfortunately, Apple’s iPod touch ships without a printed manual. Even though this may save Apple a few cents per unit, some people (like yours truly) prefer dead-tree documents as they are easier to read. APress to the rescue – but can their iPod touch/iPhone manuals fill up the void?
The book starts out by looking at various purchasing options available to prospective iPod touch/iPhone users. The book discusses US retailers and their warranty programs, and also takes a look at what the Apple web shop has to offer.
The next two chapters look at text input and web browsing. People coming from another smartphone/handheld platform will find these chapters very valuable, as they contain loads of things that can’t be figured out easily.
After that, a few chapters look at media management. As I am very happy with the media capabilities of my Treo, these chapters haven’t been too interesting for me – but they still cover everything in considerate detail.
Two chapters deal with the PIM tools found on the machine. An additional chapter looks at the new features found in the so-called “January Software Upgrade” – the latest 2.0 upgrade hasn’t been included yet, but will likely be covered in a future edition of the tome.
Finally, an appendix contains a few useful links regarding jail breaking and other iPod touch trickery…
Erica Sadun’s book is pretty well-written and easy to understand. Black-and-white images clarify key concepts where needed. The paper quality is ok – my Parker 45 (x-nib) didn’t have any blotting issues. Unfortunately (and typical for APress), the iPod touch version book contains a few flaws: for example, the book talks about iPod Touch calls (which don’t exist)…
In the end, Taking your iPod touch to the max is a great book for everyone who wants to get to know their iPod. The Amazon.com price of just 15$ makes this a bargain: when buying an iPod touch at Amazon’s, get this book by all means!
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