If you don’t have an MP3 player yet, then you might be wondering why everyone gets so excited about iPods. Well, aside from Apple being the first company to really open up the (paid) online music craze, the iPod is user friendly and has amazing storage capabilities. When you go to buy your first iPod you'll probably notice the plethora of accessories and extras available for you to purchase. Everything from carrying cases to external speakers are for sale, as well as many nifty gadgets that enhance the usage and performance of you iPod. This article will examine some of the extras you can get for the ubiquitous iPod, what they do, and offer a buy or buy elsewhere recommendation. We are even going to look at free things you can do with your iPod, for those that want to save their money to buy music online.
up to 240 songs
Cool Accessories & Fun Things you can do
FM Transmitters
The worst thing about creating a 15,000 song library is that you will want to take it with you everywhere you go. Apple sells a few FM transmitters (iTrip), but there are many other versions out there that are cheaper and easier to use. With one of these transmitters you can listen to tunes in your car or on your home stereo wirelessly, through a free FM radio station. Your iPod will work wherever there is a radio within about 30 feet. Very cool.
CD or Tape Deck Adapter
Your iPod can also be run through your car’s tape deck or CD player. All you need is the tape/cd adapter, or an aux input. This is less money and actually provides better sound quality than the FM transmitter option.
iPod camera connector
Storage concerns? iPods can handle up to 60GBs of storage, so they are a very handy way to download, store and transport your picture files. You can also use the iPod as a handheld presentation device, connecting it to the AV jacks on a TV or projector. Won't everyone will love it when you show up with 20,000 vacation photos?
Watch QuickTime Movies
Yes, you can watch small videos on your iPod, with full blown videos just around the corner. Lots of sites offer tips on how to set up your iPod Photo to make movies palatable. You can also store movies with ease on the iPod's hard drive, even if you can’t watch them in your hand. Check out some iPod sites for more info.
The bar is open!
Podtender offers 900 drink recipies that can be downloaded, stored and viewed on your iPod. You'll have party music and the bartender's bible in your pocket and ready to go.
Text to Speech
Tired of reading text like a sucker? No problem! You can download a text reader for your iPod, allowing you to hear your favorite documents rather than read them.
Record it!
You can set up your iPod to record hours upon hours of your thoughts, college lectures, or a conversation with a friend or colleague. iTalk can be set up to do all these things and more.
iPod Covers
Like cell phone covers, the iPod has many expensive – and wonky – covers that you can purchase. But if you are creative (and cheap), just about anything will work. Some internet suggestions: Socks (use those solo socks you pull out of the dryer and can't find a match for), Ziplock baggies, old Walkmans with the ‘guts’ ripped out, Altoids tins, cigarette packs, hand knit hoodies, iPod sleeves, etc.
Insta Mirror
Thumbs up to all the ladies out there who figured out early on that the back of an iPod makes for a nice shiny mirror that can be used like a compact.
Alarm Clock
Like most digital phones, the iPod can be used as an alarm clock. But the nifty trick is that you can choose a playlist as your wake up tune(s). And also like an alarm clock, the iPod has a snooze function. This means you can fall asleep listening to your favorite death-metal band, without worrying about running down the battery.
Quick Light
If you wake up in the middle of the night, or maybe you are in a stranger’s house, then you may not want to flick on a bright light in order to go to the washroom. The backlight on your iPod is perfect to guide you through the late-night bedroom floor maze, so that you end up in the washroom with out banging anything.
Extra things you can do with your iPod
Podcasting
This is about to become the next biggest thing in blogging…or is that Vblogging? Or Vlogging? Call it what you like, the ability to transmit and share your personal thoughts has now entered the iPod universe. You can use you iPod to record your thoughts, music, video – whatever you like – then upload it to a multitude of rapidly expanding websites.
Storage
Forget stacks of floppies and CDs, now you can store all your crucial data in one place - on your iPod. Since the iPod is so compact, you can take all that data with you wherever you are. A simple hard drive back-up, plus you still have all your tunes and pics.
iTunes Store
Currently with over 900,000 legal downloads to choose from, this store has something for everyone.
iTunes Podcast Subscriptions
According to the Apple website: “With iTunes 4.9 you can now browse, find, sample and subscribe to thousands of free podcasts — radio shows delivered over the Internet to your computer — then sync them to your iPod and listen anytime, anywhere.” Very cool.
iPod Hacks www.ipodhacks.com
This site gives lots of free advice for those that want to have a fully functional iPod, without shelling out money for the iPod accessories.
The iLounge www.ilounge.com
This site has links and tips to many free iPod downloads, including old radio shows, 7-day weather forecasts, the best podcasts on the net, and much, much more.
Airport Express Base Station
Allows you to wirelessly connect your stereo to your computer running iTunes.
What Else?
Well, for all you iPod junkies, it seems like the video iPod may be released this year. So if you have been stocking up on DVDs, you may want to hold off before you buy anymore. Imagine being able to carry around a cigarette pack sized machine that can handle your entire video and music library – not to mention your books. Pretty damn cool! But don’t wait too long. All the cool kids are using iPods now, and nobody likes to be the last one to buy a new toy.
If you don’t have an MP3 player yet, then you might be wondering why everyone gets so excited about iPods. Well, aside from Apple being the first company to really open up the (paid) online music craze, the iPod is user friendly and has amazing storage capabilities. When you go to buy your first iPod you'll probably notice the plethora of accessories and extras available for you to purchase. Everything from carrying cases to external speakers are for sale, as well as many nifty gadgets that enhance the usage and performance of you iPod. This article will examine some of the extras you can get for the ubiquitous iPod, what they do, and offer a buy or buy elsewhere recommendation. We are even going to look at free things you can do with your iPod, for those that want to save their money to buy music online.