Help me buy an iPod with one critical feature

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m thinking of going over to the Dark Side and getting an iPod. I’ve always used iRiver, but an iPod connects directly to my car and it that’s really nice.

But there’s one feature I really need, and I can not figure out if an iPod does this: bookmark an audio file.

I read through the manuals on both iPod Touch and Classic, and cannot find this feature. Web searches turn up the same problem, and it seems like no one knows for sure.

But with the availability of so many podcasts out there, don’t people have to be able to bookmark?

I did find an app at the Apple store called Say Again audio bookmarks. It’s $2 and does what I want, but, crikey, why doesn’t the iPod already do this???

Seems like I want a Touch not a Classic, if for no other reason than the ability to run apps that can help me manage music and podcasts.

2

What do you mean by “bookmark,” and why do you need to do it? (And what does it have to do with podcasts?)

3

So he can keep track of where in a podcast he hit “pause” and went to do something else? What do you use your bookmarks (in actual books) for?

I just pulled up a number of podcasts I’d recently listened to on my iPhone (functionally the same as a Touch for these purposes) and they all picked up where I last left off - this was all using the preinstalled Music app. For music, that isn’t going to be the case. I’m not sure if there are any apps out there that are going to be able to do that, since Apple isn’t a big fan of apps that duplicate functionality of what they already provide.

4

Meaning listen to a podcast partway through, stop and either switch off the iPod or move to something else and then come back later and pick up the podcast where you left off.

I don’t have any advice since I don’t use an ipod but I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t an automatic feature of the software.

5

Zackly.

For a podcast to be picked up where you left off, does it have to be tagged as a podcast?

It never occurred to me that this would just happen automatically. And I don’t need music bookmarked.

6

It is. It always stops where you left off and holds your place. You don’t have to “bookmark” it, that’s all.

7

Yeah, my iPhone does that as well, and I can’t remember if my iPod Nano did since it’s been a couple years since I used one.

I wasn’t sure if the OP meant marking one’s place within a track, or tagging particular tracks/podcasts as “favorites.”

I know there are 3rd party iTouch/iPhone apps for podcasts (I use Instacast, myself), but have no idea if there’s anything for downloaded music.

8

I have a feeling that it does. If you’re pulling mp3 files off the web as podcasts, you’ll probably want to make sure you’re listing them as podcasts when you import them into iTunes.

9

If it’s imported as an audiobook or a podcast, it will automatically remember your place even if you go listen to something else and come back. If its imported as music, it will not do this automatically, but you can go into iTunes, click Get Info, go to the Options tab and either change the format to podcast or click the checkbox for “Remember my place” (or whatever it’s called). I do both just in case. I have an iPhone, but it shoud be the same for iPod Classic and iPod Touch.

10

“Remember Playback Position”. No need to make it a podcast. Works on all iPods. I think it works on all sound files, definitely MP3s & AACs.

11

Thank you, everyone!

My iPod Touch arrives Thursday.

What I also should have asked is if it’s going to work with the stereo system in my Scion XB. I know it works on old iPods, but when I bought this car (it’s an '08) the Touch wasn’t invented.

12

Update? I’m kind of interested in your initial impressions.

13

iPods use iTunes to play podcasts. If you stop a podcast, it remembers where you stopped.

14

You know, I ran into just this problem! I flew back to where I grew up, bought a new car, expected to be able to while away the drive back to where I live with my iPod keeping my ears happy, only to learn that the ONLY version of the iPod that doesn’t work with my new car is the one I have (the little-loved 4th-generation version, incidentally). Aargh! The saving grace was that the car came with a short-term subscription to satellite radio, and I have to say, it was pretty amazing.

15

Where did you hear that nugget of untruth? iPods use their own internal software to play podcasts, just like they do with all other audio files.

16

Nope. I struggle all the time with podcats and audiobooks.

Audiobooks are worse, because they might be 8 hours long. You can sometimes navigate back to the start of a chapter, but that still might mean an hour or two of repeated audio.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, because I can’t believe anyone at Apple thought that design was ideal.

17

Update:

I got my iTouch a few hours ago.

First, it works in my 2008 Scion XB, but will not charge. As mentioned above, Apple did this. They changed the way devices charge. There is a device I can buy that will solve the problem and I’ll look into it.

Second, it handles podcasts brilliantly. If you download a podcast from iTunes, it’s all set. You just have to make sure it got filed under “podcasts” and not songs. I downloaded episodes of a podcast from the website instead of iTunes, and I had to select all the episodes, right click, and then I was able to get them noted as podcasts. Once they were in my iTouch and filed correctly, I started each one and let them play a bit, then went back and forth between the six episodes. The iTouch always remembered where I was on each one. It obviously doesn’t do this for songs, but I don’t need it too.

I actually like that better than bookmarks, which is how my iRiver handled it. And I have a friend who has an iRiver where that’s not even a feature!

I was afraid the iTouch would be the size of an iPhone, but it’s not. It’s about 2 x 4 inches and VERY thin. It’s not much bigger than my iRiver, and is half the thickness.

No danger of me getting rid of my Droid, but for what I wanted, the iTouch is perfect.

18

I think music playback with the iPod Touch is more than 30 hours, so even though it stinks that it no longer can be charged, it’s really not the end of the world.

The iPhone has approximately the same height and width as the touch, the difference in depth is only a couple of millimeters. So, I think they are closer then you think! Of course, the touch is tapered, so at the top and the bottom it is SUPER thin. In any case, it’s a great device and I am glad you are happy with it.

I think there are podcast apps out there if you aren’t happy with how the built in app works. I have been happy with the built in app, so I haven’t tried any of them out.