J. Allen's iPod Secrets #2 (or is it #3?)
By J. Allen Leinberger

Once again it looks like the iPod will be the most popular gift this Christmas. The only threat is that giant dinosaur toy, Kota. So if you and other members of your family all have iPods, here’s some good news to keep peace in the home for the holidays.
First and foremost, remember that you only need one computer to hold the music library for everyone. You may like Vivaldi and your oldest may like hip-hop. It just doesn’t matter. You see, the iTunes program that holds all of the music can tell one iPod from another.
For your own sake you may want to change the name of each one. What I have done is simply click on the name when I first plugged it into my computer. Just like changing a file name, I typed in “J. Allen's iPod.” The computer remembers. It also knows what kind of iPod I have plugged in, as well as its model, serial number, hard drive size and color.
When the screen comes up that shows you are connected, go to the music file. You can load all of the songs in the iTunes library, or you can select individual music files that you have created. If it’s yours and you already have a Vivaldi file, the computer will automatically add any new cuts you have downloaded to that file.
If you have a new playlist, say Bach, you will need to click the box for Bach under the playlist list. It will then be added. The iPod with the hip-hop music will only add it to that owner’s collection of playlists. If they have a new Kanye West playlist, again, you have to click it in the playlist list to add it.
But the good news is, you won’t have hip-hop taking up hard drive space on your unit. In mine, I also have seasonal music. Halloween, Christmas and such. I can turn these playlists on or off for the right time of the year. The computer knows which playlists to check on each iPod. If you suddenly get the urge to add the hip-hop file, simply click on it when your iPod is plugged in.
Note here that there is a reason the iTunes is now the #1 selling source for recordings. Their library has an amazing collection of items to purchase. Not just pop music. It has audio books, university course audio. current and past TV shows and movies. NPR and podcast audio and video. If you missed last week’s episode of “Smallville,” you can download it. If you like movie trailers, they are also available. If you can’t find your old vinyl recording of “Pet Sounds,” you can buy it again and add it to your new digital collection.
I must add here that the iPod is not the be-all and end-all of entertainment. Even the newest models have limited screen size. Not everything you might want to see or listen to is available. The iTunes library has albums by John, Paul, George and Ringo individually, but it still does not carry the Beatles. Maybe next year. This is not a problem. You can load “Sgt. Pepper” from a CD. If you don’t have it on CD, try the public library. I did, and I now have most of the early Beatles music loaded.
By now you may have noticed that any number of new DVDs on the market not only come with the mandatory alternate ending and never-before-seen-footage. They also have a “digital file.” That is so you can load the film into your iPod.
As little as five years ago we were told that video in a hand held device was impossible. It would take up too much hard drive space and require too much power. No battery small enough for the unit could run the film. If it could, the heat that would be generated would fry the circuitry. How we have advanced from the old twentieth century.
A few other random thoughts come to mind. For one thing, it is no longer necessary to buy a whole album of Greatest Hits. The iTunes library allows you to pick and chose what songs you want and what you don’t. Most albums have clunkers in the collection. Sometimes (I don’t know why) they insist on making one cut a live performance track, instead of the studio cut that I wanted. If I can find the original studio track, I add that one to my playlist and delete the version that I don’t want. That way, my Greatest Hits collection is better than theirs.
Playlists are not carved in stone either. Some night when you’re bored or stuck on hold, call up one of your lists and move things around. You can also simply turn the list upside down by clicking the little triangle next to the numbers on the left hand side of the song list.
You should know here that, unlike recording songs onto a cassette, iPods only need one recording. Once you have loaded, say, “Stayin' Alive” by the Bee Gees, you can put it into a playlist marked disco, one marked Bee Gees, one marked Seventies Hits, etc.
Each playlist is actually nothing more than a computer program. It is a list of digital tags, which are called up for your entertainment.
Also, if you do load CDs into your unit, note that many newer ones now include the name of the track, album, artist and even the album artwork into the disk. It saves you the need to keystroke the whole thing in, which can be a time saver with some of those classical recordings.
Speaking of which, most of the entry columns in your iTunes library work on default. In other words, once you’ve typed in “Greatest Hits,” or “Duane Eddy, His Twangy Guitar and the Rebels,” that entry is remembered, so the next time you start to type it in, it should come up complete.
There are many other little tricks that the iPod and the iTunes will do if you play with it long enough. Feel free to share them with me, and the next time I write one of these iPod columns (#3 or 4) I’ll include it. In the meantime, enjoy your iPod and Merry Christmas.