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FireWire · Nov 7, 2007, 05:46 AM

Hi, I always said to myself that I would never buy an iPod, but then Apple gave me one for free when I bought my iMac (I paid a little extra to upgrade to the 80 GB model).

I've been using it for a few weeks now, mainly as my main music source while driving. At first I though it would be safer than using CD, because I didn't have to fumble with a pile of CD to find the one I wanted, occupying both my hands and my eyes.

I've done many things while driving, but I found that nothing is more dangerous than operating an iPod... I'm not confortable at all and think an accident is just bound to happen sooner or later... The LCD is too small to really see something, the backlight doesn't stay on long enough, the touch-wheel doesn't work well when used from the driver's seat with the thumb and operation is very hard because of the lack of tactile feedback, making it difficult to use without looking at it. One has to quit looking at the road for many seconds at a time, and I can't really afford that...

So, I'd like to know how do you use your iPod without risking killing yourself? Have any tricks for safer operation?

(Eventually I want to fabricate a device that interface with my stock radio (2005 Mazda3). Meanwhile, the Harman/Kardon Drive+Play seems pretty neat. By the way, do you know how I can obtain the specification for the car audio control bus as well as the iPod dock protocol? I searched the web but all I found are hacks. Is there a way to obtain the official specs?) Thank you!

ghporter · Nov 7, 2007, 09:53 AM

Ummm..... I think that's what playlists are for. I select a play list or a genre or an artist and let it go. If there's something I want to skip or replay, it's not that difficult to reach the right control on my iPod and skip or repeat a song, but other than that and stopping it, I don't touch the iPod while I'm actually driving.

shifuimam · Nov 7, 2007, 09:57 AM

Change the backlight timer so it doesn't go out so quickly.

Pick an album before you leave and stick with it, then get an AirClick or similar remote to control it from the driver's seat.

I do all of these and am able to entirely safely use my iPod in my car.

andretan · Nov 7, 2007, 12:50 PM

Sell that and get an iPod touch instead?

Nodnarb · Nov 7, 2007, 03:29 PM

That would just make problems worse?

Big Mac · Nov 7, 2007, 03:57 PM

Drive your car instead of playing with electronics while driving?

Dakarʒ · Nov 7, 2007, 04:00 PM

Replace the speedometer/dashboard with a front row interface.

Smillz · Nov 7, 2007, 05:28 PM

Use playlists

Kenneth · Nov 7, 2007, 06:59 PM

Another vote for playlist.

::maroma:: · Nov 7, 2007, 07:27 PM

The iPod wasn't meant to be fooled with when you're driving. Stop doing that before you kill someone. As others have said, plan ahead and use playlists. Or only mess with it when you're stopped at a stoplight or something.

It doesn't matter what interface you have, if you're browsing your whole music collection, searching for the perfect song to go with your particular mood at the moment, you're going to be significantly raising your risk of getting in an accident.

The most I ever do with my iPod while driving is advance the track, just like a normal CD player. I don't browse my library, or check out album art or anything like that. I set something to play before I leave and let it run.

DigitalEl · Nov 7, 2007, 08:11 PM

Many (most?) newer vehicles have stereos which can interface with the iPod .. either built in or through a special cable. You didn't say what you're driving, but maybe that's an option .. then you can control your iPod through your head unit.

slpdLoad · Nov 7, 2007, 08:17 PM

Get some kind of remote. I have a 3rd Gen iPod that I keep in the glove box. I have the wired remote zip-tied to one of the air vents right next to the wheel.

Stogieman · Nov 8, 2007, 02:24 AM

Originally Posted by DigitalEl

Many (most?) newer vehicles have stereos which can interface with the iPod .. either built in or through a special cable. You didn't say what you're driving, but maybe that's an option .. then you can control your iPod through your head unit.

Originally Posted by FireWire

(Eventually I want to fabricate a device that interface with my stock radio (2005 Mazda3).

Come on DigitalEl... try to keep up.

Hey, FireWire this is your best bet. It allows you to browse and select track, playlist, album, and chapter control from both the radio and steering wheel controls (if applicable) while charging the iPod.

Dice Electronics i-MAZDA-R Enfig Car Stereo - iPod XM and Sirius Satellite Radio & Auxiliary AUX Audio input specialists

A little pricey though.

Stogieman · Nov 8, 2007, 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ

Replace the speedometer/dashboard with a front row interface.

LOL! Use the steering wheel to scroll through your music. Honk to select an song.

Dakarʒ · Nov 8, 2007, 09:21 AM

That's using the old noggin.

FireWire · Nov 9, 2007, 06:30 AM

Thank you for your input. Don't worry, I don't mess with it when it could be dangerous, but I'd like to be able to use my iPod as easily as I could operate my radio when playing CDs. I'm already using playlists but most of them are really short as I originally designed them for burning on CDs (way before I got an iPod). And as I'm an avid road-tripper, I need a lot of music

And after all, the goal of having an iPod is to have your entire catalog of music available when you want it, when you want to listen to a particular song or genre. Which leads to my next question: what "strategy" do you adopt when creating playlists? Can you give me a few exemples of playlist you usually listen to? (Not list of actual songs, but more like the actual "logic" you use to create them). Thank you!

analogika · Nov 9, 2007, 06:45 AM

On-the-Go playlists.

Before you start driving, go through your music collection and to add an album, song, or entire artist's repertoire to the on-the-go list, click and hold the enter button.

The stuff you've selected is played through in the order you added it to the on-the-go.

fhoubi · Nov 9, 2007, 02:18 PM

Shuffle. It cannot be worse than a radio station. Maybe try a smart playlist f.e. >= *** (stars).

pk1 · Nov 9, 2007, 03:09 PM

Simple: decide on what you're going to listen to *before* you start driving. Make a playlist on-the-go and click play. You can control volume from your car's stereo (I assume you have it connected).

An iPod, as well as all other music players are not designed as a complementrary activity to driving. You can integrate it into your car so you can use the previous-next track keys of your stereo as well.

I have it connected to my AUX port, I pre-select what I play and all I do is advance tracks from the iPod if I don't want to listen to some track (which is not that hard). I wouldn't advice anyone to rate tracks or do anything similar while driving.

Also, make sure you have it mounted somewhere close to you in case you want to read what's playing. And as has been also said before, adjust the backlight to last longer.

pk1 · Nov 10, 2007, 06:01 AM

Regarding the "strategy" for playlist creation, here's what I do. I try to think of some albums that I would like to listen to, in terms of liking the genre as well as discovering them better, since there are some albums I haven't listened to many times. I quickly browse my artists until I see something that fits, then I press the center button continously to add the whole album in the on-the-go playlist. I repeat this step for other albums too, creating a playlist much longer than the trip I'm going to have since I may advance tracks (or even parts of albums).

Of course, when you're in the middle of your trip and suddenly want to listen to that particular track or album or artist, you can always pull to the edge of the road and play that tune.

Another alternative is to play a whole category of music (or your whole library) with shuffle albums on. This way, if you don't like the current album, advance tracks to the next one. Maybe you'll like that one more.

If you have a very large library, in the end it's not a matter of what specific track to listen to, but being able to listen to good music along your trip, instead of lousy radio and noise, or having to change CDs all the time (that scratch, stop working etc). Even the shuffle songs is better than that

skacoreimplore · Nov 10, 2007, 06:29 AM

I just put my iPod on shuffle and keep hitting next till I hear something I like. I just got a 16 gig iPod touch ^_^.

imitchellg5 · Nov 10, 2007, 01:32 PM

I always pick a playlist or fool with it at a stoplight. Never while driving.

Voch · Nov 11, 2007, 05:42 PM

I have a "Singles" smart playlist of songs that I mark with one star rating or greater and use my 1G iPod mini as a commercial-free portable radio station (set to shuffle). I skip the occasional song but not very often. If I'm driving a specific distance and know the approximate time I will disable shuffle and listen to an entire album but I choose it before I start moving the vehicle.

I hope to grab an iPod Touch sometime after my Christmas spending to use as a PDA/calendar/web browser (not while driving!) but am nervous about using for music in the car. I can skip songs on my iPod mini fairly easily because it fits in the cubby hole under my car stereo and can find the clickwheel by touch, but I have no idea where I'm going to put an iPod Touch (maybe next to me on the seat).

Voch

spiff72 · Nov 11, 2007, 09:23 PM

Personally, I think the iPod touch would be terrible for in-car use. The lack of tactile controls is a big detriment.

I have the Harman Kardon Drive+Play, and it works well, but it has issues with my car's Aux Input jack. My car (a 2007 Camry Hybrid) has an issue with the Aux in jack that leads to a high pitched whine if it is plugged into anything that is also connected to 12V power. A Ground loop interference filter cleans up the noise, but for some reason, the filter also filters out all of the bass frequencies on this HK unit. I think there is an impedence mismatch between it and the GLI filter, and this acts as a high-pass filter.

I haven't tried the Drive+Play 2, which looks pretty cool, but seems overpriced.

imitchellg5 · Nov 11, 2007, 11:56 PM

The first Drive+Play was too, but they've gone down. You can get the first for $54 at Amazon now.

pk1 · Nov 12, 2007, 04:16 AM

In my opinion, browsing a big music library of several GB can never be safe while driving, unless there was some voice recognition system that you could speak to. So to start, all music players can become dangerous. I admit that the clickwheel may have been nice as an interface, but makes using the device harder while one is driving. But if "older" iPods where harder to use due to the clickwheel, then the iPod touch must be a total disaster for in-car use!

Yes, Drive+Play 2 looks better then the first edition, but still I wouldn't spend all that money for it (not to mention all the wires need to be installed). I ended up making my own AUX cable.

wei · Nov 12, 2007, 04:38 AM

Most of the time my ipod will be on playlist before I start my journey. I've modded my cheap cassette player to have a 3.5mm jack in. So I just leave my ipod on the seat or in the tray. Most control I did is skipping track, which I can easily reach to the ipod and press "next" without looking at the ipod. Volume are control over my cassette player. I can't justify to spend more on the in-car sound system after loosing my last setup when my car got stolen.

Here's the simple setup.

ApeInTheShell · Nov 12, 2007, 02:38 PM

1. Choose your music right before you get into the car
2. If you know a stop light takes longer than usual, change music selections there
3. If you are driving on a long road going 30-35 mph take the iPod out and fiddle with it to select music
4. Sell the iPod and get an iPod Shuffle. Life is random, so is your driving