iPod [Hardcover]

Granted, Jones is enthusiastic about the music, and this comes through in his writing, and he's far from a musical snob, which is almost refreshing, (even if you have to question his inclusion of albums like "Twentysomething" on a list of top 100 jazz records). The writing about music and the evolution of his taste contains mildly annoying details from Jones' own biography might come across as too personal and not really that interesting for some readers. If possible, I'd recommend you try to locate an excerpt of this book as a taster or flick through a few pages of the writing on music to see if it's your thing. I also get the feeling that this book will seem dated very quickly, in fact, though it has been published, some of it already reads dated.

However, one great thing about this book are the chapters on the development and evolution of the iPod, iTunes and the whole kit and caboodle and I found these highly enjoyable. As they're spread out amid the other chapters, this is largely what kept me reading the rest of the book. If you're an iPod fanatic, or are interested in learning about what all the fuss over Apple has been over the years, then there is likely to be a lot in here to satisfy. The Sections on Steve Job's story, his obsession with Bob Dylan are amusing and insightful in a Secret-History of entertainment sort of way. The bits on British designer Jonathan Ives and his story at Apple are a good read too, and there is some information in here, anecdotal and otherwise, that you're not likely to have come across before. Overall, I was impressed by the writing about the evolution of the player and the consumer mega trends of recent years.

Parts of the book also explore the changes digital media have presented to the record industry, how music is consumed and marketed and specialisation, the future of the 'Niche' mass market, though there is room for more development here; no mention of the 'Long Tail' and other factors that are surely at play in the success of iTunes and in the reclaiming of content by the consumer revolt, most particurlarly in the area of music pricing and downloading. The recommendations on musical discoveries are useful and will be very interesting to some (perhaps the types walking around with the white earphones who only ever buy top 40 albums and have found that they could do with something a little less bland to fill up their 4 Gigs) - the final third of the book is made up of appendices of lists and recommendations for play lists. These are amusing lists and you have to admit that the selections or grouping are not as entirely 'muso' as they might be, so perhaps that's a plus for a book that could potentially be inaccessible for most. If you're already the type of person for whom a digital media player with a lot of space was actually a godsend that made your life genuinely easier and more enjoyable because you listen to so much music, rather than someone that bought an iPod because they were cool and trendy are the thing to have, then there's this is all likely to be too rudimentary for you.

This book will probably appeal to fans of High Fidelity and can you can definitely sense the trace of that book in here, though I won't put it on level-pegging with anything by Nick Hornby, and the reference to Liar's Poke is a bit of the mark too. I thought I might get away with the book without the dust-jacket, when transporting it about my daily business to read on park benches and in coffee shops, but the title is emblazoned in large lettering across the spine, so perhaps the paperback edition could benefit from more subtle design features; if the title weren't enough, the Rodin thinker-style figure with the white headphones is definitely likely to embarrass some.

Unfortunately, this is really a book about Dylan Jones and all the famous people he has met, and the trendy places he has been. Hardly a page goes by without some blatant name-dropping.
When he does mention iPods and other Apple products it is in terms which deserve a place in Private Eye's 'Pseuds Corner'.

The book is 342 pages long, but 90 pages are taken up with an index and appendices. The appendices are basically just lists of songs from the author's playlists. This includes a whopping 27 pages to list the '100 best songs from the 100 best jazz albums' and another 8 pages to list easy listening songs!

In the remaining 75% of the book can be found an entire chapter about an imaginary Beatles album, extended pieces about Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison and more about jazz and easy listening.

While there are one or two interesting anecdotes, I found the whole book to be lacking an overall structure or theme. It feels like a number of essays or articles from magazines recycled and padded out with some bits and pieces of Apple history.

Other books where an author talks about their favorite music (Lost In Music by Giles Smith or This Is Uncool by Garry Mulholland) succeed because they are primarily about the music and details of the author's life are incidental and self-deprecating. This book fails because it is about the author and how he met Paul Anka/Yoko Ono/Paul Smith or bumped into Sid Vicious or had Bryan Ferry comment on his trousers and the music concentrates too much on a couple of artists and a couple of genres.

The book is all the more disappointing as my expectations were so high before reading it. The book is sub-titled 'a personal journey through music' but that journey is far too personal to be interesting to most other people.

Most reviews of this book I have seen in the newspapers have been totally positive, so I may be in a small minority by not enjoying this book. Or maybe, as editor of GQ magazine, Dylan Jones has lots of friends in the media who all write book reviews?

Then I read this book.

Given that it isn't directly about Apple, Macs, or anything bearing the little logo, it is surprising that it has changed my philosophy.

What this book showed me, is that while other products look great on paper, there is a great difference between a good spec and a good idea.

I wouldn't have bought this book if I had not read a chapter from it in the newspaper. But I loved the writing style. It flowed, it was funny and it worked.

Turns out the books is a collection of essays written in a similar style covering anything from the iPod, to music, to anything to do with the author himself.

I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone who wants to rediscover how they use their iPods, playlists and nearly any part of their musical lives.

It even got me into listening to The Beatles so there we go!

Great book, Superb Author, Excellent Read. Buy it.