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Is an iPod may be on your shopping list for this holiday season, or perhaps on the wish list you're submitting to Santa? As part of my series on iPods, this article will tell you some things about iTunes. I'll explain about setting up playlists, using the Jukebox, getting music from your CDs into iTunes, making iTunes accessible if you need those features, and using the iTunes store.
One thing this article won't cover is how to work with iTunes when you have more than one iPod in the family. That topic will get a separate post of its own later in the series. Other topics coming later include using an iPod in your car, iPod accessories, and finding free music for your iPod.
If you're still trying to make a decision about which iPod to buy, see Planning Ahead for Christmas: Which iPod is Right for You?
You can use all the iTunes features even if you don't own an iPod. But if you have an iPod, you must use iTunes as the bridge between the iPod and your Library on the computer. If you don't already have it, the first step is to get iTunes. You can download it free from Apple.com for either a PC or a Mac.
When you have a new iTunes install, it's a good idea to open Preferences and choose font sizes and other options. If you have any vision issues, there's a great article listed in the resources at the end that will walk you through making iTunes more accessible using the Preferences.
When iTunes is installed on your computer, open it up. By default, it opens first to a view of your Library of music. The Library also includes Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Radio, Ringtones and other items.
The previous image shows my Music Library. The music library is called the Jukebox. Just double click a song to play it.
Everything about the view in the iTunes Library Music category is customizable. Clicking column heads will organize music by artist, album, or genre. You can search for songs or artists or albums using the search feature in the upper right. Using the View options in the upper right near the search box, you can change the way you view the albums and music in your Library. In the next image, you see the view called Cover Flow, which lets you flip through your albums and pick the one you want to hear. I suggest you click around and try everything about View to find the way that appeals to you.
You can click through the menu items on the left sidebar to view and select from your movies, TV shows, and podcasts in the same way. (I'll explain where these things come from in a bit.) Everything under the Library category is stored on your computer. If you move down the menu on the left a bit you see the category Store. Here your choices are iTunes Store or Purchased. Purchased items are saved on your computer and are yours to use. They are no longer part of the iTunes store, so I don't know why this listed is under Store, but it is. If you click iTunes Store, you go online to browse the store. Here's an image of the iTunes store.
The front page of the iTunes store is a long scroll and shows links to music, video, books, movie rentals, podcasts, apps, and everything else you can get from iTunes. (If you scroll all the way down to the bottom, you will find some free items.) Back up at the top left, you see the main categories of things to get at iTunes in the small menu shown next.
Let's look first at some of the wonderful stuff you can get free. One of those wonderful free things is an education. Click iTunesU in the menu and you find a vast array of free courses you can download from places like Yale, Georgia State, and Stanford. The image below shows some courses available from Cambridge, Emory and UCDavis.
The Podcasts are usually free as well. In the podcast section you can subscribe to literally thousands of podcasts. These might be radio programs or programs from the BBC, Comedy Central, NPR, The Onion, Fox, ESPN, Disney, and lots of indie productions. You simply find a program you like, click
