The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide, Second Edition

The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide24

off and then on. The shuffl e will continue playing

if you do this rapidly enough. A green-glowing LED

indicates a full charge (even after the shuffl e has

played for several hours). If you see an amber light,

the shuffl e is low on power. A red light indicates that

it’s really low on power, and no light at all tells you

that the shuffl e is completely drained and should be

plugged into a power source to charge.

Ports and connectors:

Dock-connector iPods

The iPod doesn’t work by osmosis. You need a hole

for the sound to get out (and, in some cases, in), and

another hole for moving data on and off the device.

Here’s what you’ll fi nd on the Dock-connector iPods.

Headphone jack and Hold switch

The 3G and all click-wheel iPods except the iPod

nano and 5G iPod sport a Headphone jack, a Hold

switch, and an iPod Remote Control connector up top

(Figure 2.5 and Figure 2.6).

Figure 2.5 Top

of the 4G iPod.

Figure 2.6 Port

cap atop the

iPod mini.

Chapter 2: Controls and Interface 25

You’ll fi nd the iPod nano’s Hold switch on top but

the Headphone port on the bottom (Figure 2.7).

The nano and 5G iPod have no Remote Control port.

The Headphone jack and Hold switch provide audio

output and disable the iPod’s controls, working

nearly the same way on today’s iPod and iPod nano

as they did on older models.

Figure 2.7

Top of the 2G

iPod nano.

tip

I say nearly because the Headphone jack, in combina-

tion with the Remote Control connector on 3G-and-later

standard iPods up to the 5G iPod, supports not only

audio output, but also audio input. With a compatible

microphone, you can record low-quality audio (8 kHz)

on these iPods. The 5G iPod and 2G iPod nano support

higher-resolution audio recording via their Dock

Connector ports and a compatible microphone. See

Chapter 6 for more on compatible iPod microphones.

note

The standard color iPod’s Headphone jack is different

from that on other iPods in that it’s capable of also

transmitting composite video. Though an iPod nano can

display pictures on its screen, it doesn’t support connec-

tions to external video devices.