Precious few products ever come close to generating the kind of buzz seen with the iPhone. Its messianic arrival received front-page treatment in newspapers and top billing on network and cable TV shows. People lined up days in advance just to ensure landing one of the first units. Years from now, people will insist, "I was one of them."
But we trust you didn't pick up this book to read yet another account about how the iPhone launch was an epochal event. We trust you did buy the book to find out how to get the very most out of your remarkable device. Our goal is to deliver that information in a light and breezy fashion. We expect you to have fun using your iPhone. We equally hope you have fun spending time with us.
Let's get one thing out of the way right from the get-go. We think you're pretty darn smart for buying a For Dummies book. That says to us that you have the confidence and intelligence to know what you don't know. The For Dummies franchise is built around the core notion that all of us feel insecure about certain topics when tackling them for the first time, especially when those topics have to do with technology.
As with most Apple products, the iPhone is beautifully designed and intuitive to use. And though our editors may not want us to reveal this dirty little secret (especially on the first page, for goodness sake), the truth is you'll get pretty far just by exploring the iPhone's many functions and features on your own, without the help of this (or any other) book.
Okay, now that we spilled the beans, let's tell you why you shouldn't run back to the bookstore and request a refund. This book is chock-full of useful tips, advice, and other nuggets that should make your iPhone experience all the more pleasurable. So keep this book nearby and consult it often.
First, we want to tell you how we go about our business. iPhone For Dummies, 3rd Edition, makes generous use of numbered steps, bullet lists, and pictures. Web addresses are shown in a special monofont typeface, like this.
We also include a few sidebars with information that is not required reading (not that any of this book is) but that we hope will provide a richer understanding of certain subjects. Overall, we aim to keep technical jargon to a minimum, under the guiding principle that with rare exceptions you need not know what any of it really means.
Here's something we imagine you've never heard before: Most books have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and you do well to adhere to that linear structure — unless you're one of those knuckleheads out to ruin it for the rest of us by revealing that the butler did it.
Fortunately, there is no ending to spoil in a For Dummies book. So although you may want to digest this book from start to finish — and we hope you do — we won't penalize you for skipping ahead or jumping around. Having said that, we organized iPhone For Dummies, 3rd Edition, in an order that we think makes the most sense, as follows.
Part I: Getting to Know Your iPhone
In the introductory chapters of Part I, you tour the iPhone inside and out, find out how to activate the phone with Apple's partner in the United States, AT&T, and get hands-on (or, more precisely, fingers-on) experience with the iPhone's unique virtual multitouch display.
Part II: The Mobile iPhone
There's a reason the iPhone has phone in its name. Part II is mostly about all the ways you can make and receive calls on the device. But you also discover how to exchange text messages and play with the Calendar, Clock, Calculator, and Voice Memo applications.
Part III: The Multimedia iPhone
Part III is where the fun truly begins. This is the iPhone as an iPod, a camera, and yes, even a camcorder, meaning that music, videos, movies, pictures, and other diversions come to life.
Part IV: The Internet iPhone
Part IV covers the mobile Internet. You master the Safari browser, e-mail, maps, and more. We discuss the faster 3G, or third-generation, wireless network that the latest iPhone can tap into. And speaking of maps, your iPhone has the capability to locate your whereabouts through GPS (in the case of the iPhone 3G and 3GS) and other location-tracking methods.
Little round pictures (icons) appear in the left margins throughout this book. Consider these icons miniature road signs, telling you something extra about the topic at hand or hammering a point home.
Here's what the four icons used in this book look like and mean.
Tip
These are the juicy morsels, shortcuts, and recommendations that might make the task at hand faster or easier.
Note
This icon emphasizes the stuff we think you ought to retain. You may even jot down a note to yourself in the iPhone.
Note
Put on your propeller beanie hat and pocket protector; this text includes the truly geeky stuff. You can safely ignore this material; but if it weren't interesting or informative, we wouldn't have bothered to write it.
Why straight to Chapter 1, of course (without passing Go).
In all seriousness, we wrote this book for you, so please let us know what you think. If we screwed up, confused you, left something out, or — heaven forbid — made you angry, drop us a note. And if we hit you with one pun too many, it helps to know that as well.
Because writers are people too (believe it or not), we also encourage positive feedback if you think it's warranted. So kindly send e-mail to Ed at [email protected] and to Bob at [email protected]. We'll do our best to respond to reasonably polite e-mail in a timely fashion.
Most of all, we want to thank you for buying our book. Please enjoy it along with your new iPhone.
Note: At the time we wrote this book, all the information it contained was accurate for the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the latest versions of the iPhone OS (operating system) and iTunes. Apple is likely to introduce a new iPhone model or new versions of the operating system and iTunes between book editions. If you've bought a new iPhone or your version of iTunes looks a little different, be sure to check out what Apple has to say at www.apple.com/iphone. You'll no doubt find updates on the company's latest releases.