IPod

iPod is a brand of portable digital audio players designed and marketed by Apple Computer. (Hewlett-Packard also markets the product under the name Apple iPod + HP, but announced on July 29 2005 they would stop reselling it in September 2005, when existing stock is projected to be depleted). Devices in the iPod family offer a simple user interface designed around a central scroll wheel. Most iPod models store media on a built-in hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. Like most digital audio players, an iPod can serve as an external data storage device when connected to a computer.

Operation

iPods (other than the iPod shuffle) have five buttons:

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• 'Play/Pause'
• 'Menu' (which backs up one level in the menus)
• 'Previous' (which skips back through tracks in play)
• 'Next' (which skips forward through tracks in play)
• 'Select' (the button in the center of the scroll wheel; this selects a menu or a song to play).

(Note that fourth-generation iPods, iPod minis, and iPod nanos incorporate these buttons into the "click wheel" scroll wheel.)

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A 'Hold' switch also exists on the top of the unit. Setting this switch to display orange will make the buttons and scroll wheel unresponsive, so that users do not activate them accidentally.

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Holding down the 'Menu' button for two seconds will turn off the display's backlight. Holding down the 'Play/Pause' button for two seconds will turn the unit off.

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Fourth generation iPods and second generation iPod minis also automatically pause playback when headphones are unplugged from the headphone jack.

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If the iPod becomes unresponsive, the user can force it to reset. On a 3G or earlier iPod, this is done by sliding the switch on the top of the unit to 'Hold' then back the other way, then holding down the 'Menu 'and 'Play/Pause' buttons for six to ten seconds until the Apple logo appears. On iPods incorporating the click wheel, this is done by toggling the 'Hold' switch as above, then holding down the 'Menu' and 'Select' buttons. The iPod shuffle automatically resets after the three-position switch is switched to off.

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The iPod can also be put into FireWire Disk Mode, in which it behaves like a FireWire hard drive without any of the additional iPod functionality. On 3G and earlier iPods, this is done by resetting it, then holding the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons until the display reads "Disk Mode". On iPods with the click wheel, 'Select' and 'Play/Pause' are held down simultaneously. All iPods return to normal functionality after being reset again.

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The iPod firmware contains a diagnostic menu. On a 3G or earlier iPod, this is accessed by resetting it then holding 'Previous', 'Next', and 'Select'; on a click-wheel iPod, only the 'Previous' and 'Select' buttons need to be held. When the buttons are released after a few seconds, and the unit will chirp and briefly show a backwards Apple logo before displaying the diagnostic menu. Navigation of the menu is operated with the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons (not the scroll wheel), and items are selected with the 'Select' button. Pressing 'Play/Pause' to exits a test. (Apple has never publicly documented the functionality of the diagnostic menu.)

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An iPod unable to start (due to either a firmware or a hardware problem) displays the "sad iPod" image, reminiscent of the sad Mac icon of earlier Macintosh computers.

Related Topics:
Sad Mac - Macintosh

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