Posted by: neo2525 : How to Operate an Ipod

In the past few years, the Apple Ipod has been all the rage amongst people ranging from young child to adult. Perhaps it is the sleek look, perhaps it's the portability, perhaps its sheer massive amount of songs contained in such a small MP3 player. Whatever the reason, Ipods are here to stay.

            Ok, so you went out and got a brand new, shiny Apple Ipod, what now? The first thing you want to do is simply turn it on. To do so you can press any of the five buttons (forward, backward, play/pause, menu, middle/select). Having done this, you will enter the main screen with the options Playlists, Browse, Extras, Settings, Backlight, and Now playing.

To access the songs you have uploaded into your Ipod, choose the Browse selection by pressing the center blank button. The next screen shows the options for how you would like to browse your songs including by Artist, Albums, Songs, Genres, and Composers. No matter which option you choose, they will be in alphabetical order. Lets say for example you used the Songs selection to browse your Ipod, your next screen will come up with every song you have on your Ipod regardless of genre, artist, or album. Scroll threw the songs until you find one you would like to listen to.

Use the select button (middle button) to begin playing that song. Once you have selected the song, it will automatically begin playing. Once the song is playing, you can change the volume by simply scrolling left or right on the circular pad. To fast forward or rewind, press the select button once, you will notice a small diamond where normally you would see shaded grey (color may vary based on version of Ipod) indicating how close the song is to done. To fast forward, scroll to the right, to rewind, scroll to the left. Once you have found the location of where you want the song to play, press the select button one more time returning you to where you were when you originally chose the song. To go back and choose a different song, hit the Menu button. It will return you to the screen you had previously viewed.

The extraordinary aspect of the Ipod is the fact that it not only plays music, it also has many great extra features. To access these extra features, press Menu until you have reached the starting screen. You will see a selection called "Extras", select this. Once selected, you will see a screen with the options Clock, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Games. With clock, you can set the current time and date, a sleep timer, and an alarm clock. With Contacts, you can view the names of people you wish to contact by entering their names, home phone number and office phone number. With calendar, you can see the date and you can enter events or notes regarding a date. With Notes, you can read any self reminders you have entered into the Ipod. And lastly, you can select games which bring you to a new screen listing all the possible games in which you can play on your Ipod. No matter which version of the Ipod (excluding the Ipod shuffle) you have, you are guaranteed to have the games Brick, in which you use a paddle to bounce a ball back into the air in order to destroy the blocks. Music Quiz, which plays a short clip of sound from one of your songs and you have to choose the correct answer from a possible four as fast as possible. Parachute, in which you control an anti-aircraft gun and attempt to hit the helicopters before they release soldiers; and lastly, Solitaire, in which you attempt to match certain cards until you have used the whole deck.

In the main screen you will also see a Settings option. This is used to personalize your music to your own liking. It includes the ability to change the EQ, Bass, and other options regarding the music sound. You can also change the language which is used, and other great options.

The Ipod is a great way to hold a lot of songs in a small place; you can personalize your Ipod using colored skins, engraving your name in the back of it via laser inscription, and many other cool ways to show everyone that this is your Ipod.