iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

Your Very First Sync

For most people, the goal with any new electronics purchase is to get the new toy working right away so the fun can begin. For new iPod owners, getting to The Fun can be a very short wait. After unpacking the iPod and all its accessories, charging it up as described in Chapter 1, and installing the software, you’re ready to dive in.

The First Sync (If You Use iTunes)

You may already have Apple’s free iTunes program and plenty of songs stored in its music library. If so, the first synchronization between iPod and computer can be astoundingly simple. As soon as you connect the new iPod to the Mac or PC, iTunes opens automatically and begins copying your entire music library to the player (see Figure 2-7).

Figure 2-7. The Source list (left side) displays an icon for the iPod whenever it’s connected, as well as your music library, list of playlists, songs from the iTunes Music Store, and Internet radio stations. The bottom of the window shows the amount of space left on the iPod, the number of songs, and consecutive days the iPod can play music without repeating songs.

Tip

If you don’t want iTunes to appear automatically every time the iPod is connected, you can turn off this option in the iPod Preferences dialog box (Figure 2-9).

Figure 2-8. Left: Click the circled button ...