iTunes is the ubiquitous application for those playing music on a Mac and for those that own an iPod, iPhone or iPad. Unfortunately for Apple, iTune's has as many detractors as supporters these days but this wasn't always the case.

In attempting to be an app of all trades iTunes has almost alienated itself from its original remit of being a digital Jukebox and become a behemoth of code which has been cropped, padded and modified to handle other functionality such as the iTunes Music Store, The App Store, video playback and iDevice synchronisation (which includes calendars, photos, bookmarks etc.). Even the recent change to solid state storage in iPods has had a negative affect by reducing the amount of storage space available to you when you're on the go. If you owned an iPod Classic this wasn't an issue as you had anywhere up to 160GB of space to play with and could carry around either your whole music collection or at least a part of it.

As someone with a considerable iTunes library (300GB+ / 34,000+ tracks) I was often annoyed by the limitations of my wonderful yet measly 8GB iPod touch and I quickly realised that I had to think smarter about how I handle my content within iTunes. The answer was iTune's Smart Playlists.

Now you may have used smart playlists before (they've been around since iTunes 3.0) but most likely you've used them for a quick compilation of tunes you wanted to throw together (a playlist of "Rock' music for example) or you haven't used them at all.  Now, on the surface that's what they appear to have been designed for, however, for those with large iTunes libraries and/or limited iPod capacity they can be much more powerful. Let me show you how.

The playlist below is set up to only select tracks which have a 5-star rating and haven't been played in the last week. The number of tracks within the playlist has also been limited to 5GB. For me this is important due to limited space on my iPod touch.



The benefits of this playlist are that any music I have listened to on my iTunes at home (within the last 7 days) is not included on my iPod (meaning I'm not listening to the same tracks all the time) and when I synchronise my iPod the tracks I've listened to will be removed and subsequently replaced within the playlist with fresh tracks which will then synchronise back to my iPod. This keeps my iPod freshly stocked with music I know I'll like but haven't listened to recently.

We all know a phone isn't about phone calls anymore

So what do we use our phones for?  See an excellent graphic below.  We are all starting to realise that a phone is not just a phone anymore it is a human accessory in many parts of our lives.

iPod Touch (4G) classroom starter kit

The iPod Touch is proving to be an invaluable teaching and learning tool. Useful right the way across the curicullum, teachers are acheiving fantastic results in projects ranging from basic literacy through to modern languages, geography, maths and physical education. The 4th generation model iPod Touch brings a host of innovative new features including dual cameras (front & back) for capturing stills, HD video and video chat using FaceTime.  With thousands of educational APPs now available and with elegant web browsing, iPod Touch is a cost effective way to achieve 1-2-1 and is becoming increasing popular in both primary & secondary schools.

Our classroom starter kit includes the latest Apple MacBook Pro 13" where teachers and students can easily create and share digital content such as podcasts, audio files, eBooks and PDFs. AppleCare Protection Plan offers enhanced and extended 3 year support and warranty. We then include a Parasync dock complete with 20 x New iPod Touch 8GB (4G). The Parasync is a robust docking station allowing you to quickly and easily syncronise and charge all 20 iPods connected to one host computer.

Apple MacBook Pro 13"
AppleCare Protection Plan
20 x iPod Touch 8GB
Parasync dock
 

£4,450.00 + VAT

Parasync dock (pictured with a selection of iPods)
Parasync dock on it's own £895.00 + VAT

For more information about use of Apple mobile technologies in education, see our mobile learning blog.

iPod Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing problems with an iPod product you will find in depth support information on Apple's own iPod troubleshooting website. You can also try the following steps for rectifying common iPod issues.

If your iPod screen shows a ‘sad iPod’ icon or the screen does not show anything please try the following :- 

1. Resetting your iPod

Toggle the hold switch on and off (slide it to hold, then back to off again). Follow this by pressing and holding down both the ‘Menu’ and ‘Select’ buttons for 10 seconds or until the Apple logo appears on the screen.  Please repeat if the iPod does not reset on the first occasion.

 2. Battery and computer port

Please try an alternative USB 2 port on your computer to ensure the iPod is receiving power to recharge the battery. Your iPod battery needs looking after like any rechargeable battery. Apple recommend that you fully discharge and then recharge your iPod battery every month. This will help preserve the battery life. If you think your battery has developed a serious fault within the twelve month warranty period, Apple UK offer a rapid return & repair/replace service accessible at http://depot.info.apple.com 

Solutions Inc. can administrate this warranty process on your behalf . There is no charge where the iPod was purchased from our company. If you bought the iPod elsewhere or are unable to produce proof of purchase we will charge you a £17.99 administration fee.

Headphones

Please visit http://depot.info.apple.com if your iPod headphones develop a fault within the twelve month warranty period. Solutions inc. will not repair or replace iPod headphones.

iPod support

If you are experiencing problems with an iPod product you will find indepth support
information on-line at: 
www.apple.com/support.

If your iPod screen shows a ‘sad iPod’ icon or the screen does not show anything please try the following:

Resetting your iPod
Toggle the hold switch on and off (slide it to hold, then back to off again). Follow this by pressing and holding down both the Menu and Select buttons for 10 seconds or until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Please repeat if the iPod does not reset on the first occassion.
 

Headphones
Please visit http://depot.info.apple.com if your iPod headphones develop a fault within the twelve month warranty period. Solutions inc. will not repair or replace iPod headphones.