‘Book Mystique Review - iPhone The Missing Manual
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
by Charles W. Moore
David Pogue didn’t waste any time getting iPhone The Missing Manual off the presses barely more than a month after the device itself debuted. Presumably, David had access to pre-production examples of the iPhone, and early adopters who prefer to have a real, hard-copy user’s manual for their new iPhone will be grateful for the arrival of this book as something much more substantial than the “Finger Tips” fold-out pamphlet that Apple ships with the product.
I feel like a bit of a bounder writing a review of iPhone The Missing Manual, since I’m in Canada, where the iPhone hasn’t even been introduced yet. However, this is a book review, so I’ll be judging it on its merits as instructional literature.
If you’re familiar with other volumes in the Missing Manual series, then you have a general idea of how these books are structured, however, Pogue Press/O Reilly are in the process of phasing in a new smaller, thinner, and cheaper ($19.95) Missing Manuals format with a tighter, less conversational prose style, less white space, sans-serif typefaces, and all color illustrations rather than the grayscale ones of the classic Missing Manual series. I like the color, but am less-enamored of the other changes, including the black/white/green cover theme. The books are now more precisely focused as reference works, and perhaps more efficiently the accessible in that context, so that may compensate for what’s gone missing from the first generation Missing Manuals format.
As David Pogue notes, the downside of writing computer books is that you can just get them out the door when the software or product gets updated and your book is out of date, and he predicts that this will be especially true of this book. Of course, the same could be said for buying the iPhone itself as a Revision A product. Revision B can’t be too far off.
Pogue observes that the iPhone is a platform, a computer, so Apple can update and improve it by releasing revise software, such as programs to fill those empty spaces the bottom of the iPhone’s home screen, fix bugs, patch holes, and so forth. Consequently, the book will be periodically updated by free email newsletters as developments unfold.
Okay, so much for preliminaries, iPhone The Missing Manual is structured in six parts, each containing several chapters.
Part One, The iPhone as Phone, covers topics related to using the iPhone as a cell phone, dialing, answering, voicemail, conference calling, text messaging, and the Contacts program.
Part Two, the iPhone as iPod, is dedicated to the iPhone’s iPod-like features - music player, photo storage and slideshows, broadcasts, movies and video, as well as the iPhone’s built-in camera; a feature not available (yet?) on any iPod.
Part Three, The iPhone Online, covers the iPhone as a Web-surfing device, email, Web-browsing was Safari, YouTube, Google Maps, RSS, weather, stocks, and so forth.
Part Four, Beyond iPhone, addrersses matters outside the iPhone itself - using iTunes on your computer to load the iPhone with music, photos, or videos, and syncing the Calendar, Address Book and Mail settings. This section also covers Web-based third-party software for the iPhone, and iPhone accessories like cases, car adapters, and chargers, and finishes with a tutorial on using the iPhone Settings program.
There are also two appendices on iPhone set up and troubleshooting respectively.
Chapter 1, The Guided Tour, walks you through a description of the iPhone’s many controls and shows you the basics of how to use them, as well as the peripheral bits in the box. There is also a short tutorial on “Seven Basic Finger Techniques” for using the iPhone’s touchscreen and a longer tutorial on how to finesse the units virtual keyboard. There are tapes on charging the iPod and managing battery life as well.
The content of Chapter 2, Phone Calls, is pretty much revealed in the title, and tells you why you need to know to use the I’ve fallen as a phone.
Chapter 3, Fancy Phone Tricks, fills you in on using Visual voice mail, gas and amassed text messages, chat programs, call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding, plus Bluetooth earpieces and car kits.
Chapter 4, Music And Video, details getting the best out of the iPhone’s iPod persona - features like cover flow, the Now Playing screen, and playing back movie, music and video content.
Chapter 5, covers Photos And Camera on the iPod - viewing pictures on the iPhone screen and taking photos with its built-in 2 megapixel camera. There is also a section on photo wallpaper and setting up head shots for Contacts.
Chapter 6, Getting Online, highlights a singular (or should I say Cingular?) distinction of the iPhone’s all-screen concept, its adroitness as a Web-surfing device. The iPhone supports both regular WiFi hot spot connections and AT&T’s proprietary EDGE wireless data network via cellular phone connections. This chapter discusses the relative merits of these two online modes, as well as Airplane Mode, which disables both of the iPhone’s antennae when aboard aircraft or in other environments where wireless transmissions are not welcome.
Chapter 7, The Web, carries on with a tutorial on using the mobile version of Apple’s Safari browser that ships with the iPhone, with sections on using the Address Bar, distinctions of the Safari keyboard as opposed to the regular keyboard, managing bookmarks, audio and video on the Web, managing multiple web pages, and RSS: The Missing Manual.
Chapter 8, Email, provides you with the information you need to set up email accounts on the iPhone, including POP 3 and IMAP, and tutorials on the various aspects of email management, combating spam, in a section on Virtual Private Networking (VPN).
Chapter 9, Maps And Apps, contains sections on using the Calendar, YouTube, the Stocks application, Google Maps integration on the iPhone, Weather, the Clock, the Calculator, and the Notes app.
Chapter 10 is iTunes for iPhones. The iPhone essentially incorporates an iPod nano along with all the other stuff, and this chapter is a tutorial on using Apple’s free iTunes digital jukebox and multimedia software to load and manage music, photos, and video files on your iPhone. If you already have an iPod, most of this will be old hat, but it’s a capsule refresher.
Chapter 11 is on Syncing the iPhone with data on your computer - everything from podcasts and contacts lists to email settings, and even sections on syncing with multiple computers and one way emergency syncing.
Chapter 12 is entitled Add-ons: Accessories And Web Apps, such as word processors, news readers, and application launchers in the software category, plus hardware bits like external speakers, FM transmitters, earphones, and iPhone cases.
Chapter 13, Settings, demystifies the sundry iPhone preferences settings from ringtones and wallpaper through Security and mail, Safari, and much more.
Thus endeth the chapter content.
Appendix A, Setup And Signup, is a tutorial on iPhone activation, step by step.
Appendix B, Troubleshooting And Maintenance, is your go to of first reference when your iPhone is not working correctly, with information about where to go for further assistance if the tips provided don’t cure what’s ailing.
Despite my misgivings, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring and reviewing this book, and I now know a great deal more about the iPhone than I did previously, which I guess is the central point. At just $19.95, iPhone The Missing Manual is an inexpensive resource that the well-informed iPhone user won’t want to be without. It’s great to see the inimitable David Pogue personally authoring a Missing Manual again, and his friendly, witty, entertaining prose style has survived the lean-down makeover at Missing Manuals. Best of all, perhaps, this book is enjoyable and fun to read. I had fun, anyway.
iPhone: The Missing Manual
By David Pogue
First Edition: August 2007
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-51374-7
ISBN 13: 9780596513740
Pages: 304
Book Price: $19.99 USD ($13.59 at Amazon.com)
£12.50 GBP
PDF Price: $19.99
For more information, visit:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596513740/
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