It's November 2004 as I write this, and I'm surprised and a little distressed to see that this book is still selling fairly well.



Why distressed? Because this book is an older edition that covers the 2003 iLife product.



If you're using iLife '04, be sure to check out the new edition of my book/DVD, called -- amazingly enough -- "The Macintosh iLife '04." Every page has been updated for iLife '04, and the DVD is completely new, too.



Of course, if you're still using the original iLife suite -- or if you want the older DVD, which contains material not present in the '04 edition -- this is the book/DVD for you.

It's November 2004 as I write this, and I'm surprised and a little distressed to see that this book is still selling fairly well.

Why distressed? Because this book is an older edition that covers the 2003 iLife product.

If you're using iLife '04, be sure to check out the new edition of my book/DVD, called -- amazingly enough -- "The Macintosh iLife '04." Every page has been updated for iLife '04, and the DVD is completely new, too.

Of course, if you're still using the original iLife suite -- or if you want the older DVD, which contains material not present in the '04 edition -- this is the book/DVD for you.

It's November 2004 as I write this, and I'm surprised and a little distressed to see that this book is still selling fairly well.

Why distressed? Because this book is an older edition that covers the 2003 iLife product.

If you're using iLife '04, be sure to check out the new edition of my book/DVD, called -- amazingly enough -- "The Macintosh iLife '04." Every page has been updated for iLife '04, and the DVD is completely new, too.

Of course, if you're still using the original iLife suite -- or if you want the older DVD, which contains material not present in the '04 edition -- this is the book/DVD for you.

I have decided to review "The Macintosh iLife" by Jim Heid
in addition to the iMovie 3 Visual QuickStart Guide. This book, also distributed through Peach Pit Press, takes a more visual approach to teaching you how to use
iMovie 3 (along with the iPod, iTunes 3, iDVD 2, and iPhoto 2). When I
say visual I don't really mean pictures in the book. The book includes
a feature-length DVD (broken up into digestible parts) literally
showing you how to do the things that are written in the book.

Heid is a quality presenter both in writing and demonstration. It'd be
VERY difficult to watch this DVD and not learn how to do some pretty
sophisticated things. The pace of the DVD is well-suited to the novice
user, but not tedious for those with experience. The book on it own is
a decent reference for each of the products covered, but used as a
follow-up reference to having watched the DVD, it is a powerful
instrument making it easy to recall what you've seen without having to
actually load the DVD back into a player.

While Heid's book focuses more on the most-commonly used features, it
makes up for any gap (say, between it and the iMovie 3 VQSG) by
covering the whole suite of iLife programs rather than just one. Even
if you have the new version of iLife '04 (like I do), you can still
benefit from this book because the material in it is geared toward
utilizing functions that will exist in the new versions too. Even if
the interface has changed a little, I did not find that it was
difficult to follow anything that Heid demonstrated. Unless he
specifically updates this book (and DVD) to match iLife '04, I can do
no less than highly recommend it to all iLife users.

This book/DVD combo is simply superb. I am not technically gifted -- though I'm the son of a rocket scientist! -- but I am totally geeking out. Jim Heid is a master instructor with an utterly uncanny knack for speaking to exactly the point that you want him to address next. His sense of sequence is flawless! Apple has done a stunning job of creating an awesomely powerful, yet completely accessible, package in iLife. I'm already importing tunes, burning custom CDs and running out to buy a digital camera. I am even considering personally creating instructional DVDs for my Los Angeles based media training firm. That, in itself, is a minor miracle. I used to concede everything to IT experts; now I'm not so sure! I think Jim Heid's book -- along with David Pogue's Missing Manual series -- ought to be standard issue with any Mac.
The Mac, in my obviously biased opinion, is the most elegantly intuitive computer on earth. Equally so is this book and DVD combination. You'll be amazed at how quickly you assimilate information and navigate with growing confidence. My only criticism of this set is that I wish there was more. To that end, I plan to check out what else is available from Peachpit Press and Avondale Media (they collaberated on this combo). Well, folks, I hope I've made myself clear: The Macintosh iLife book and DVD are as good as it gets. If you've been on the wrong side of the digital divide, and if you're now ready to advance exponentially in your multimedia skills, then you simply can't go wrong with this purchase. Buy it!

As a typical instruction-manual-phobic kinda guy, this is a delight. The real clincher is the well-presented DVD tutorial, so I can sit back and learn on "autopilot".

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This is the sort of guide that Apple should be shipping with every Mac.

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Jim Heid doesn't waste time about getting into doing things with the iLife suite. The DVD alone is worth the purchase price if you're a new or novice user. I use the iDVD portion of the DVD with beginning students to video editing. It's a no nonsence approach that keeps things moving.

Jim Heid doesn't waste time about getting into doing things with the iLife suite. The DVD alone is worth the purchase price if you're a new or novice user. I use the iDVD portion of the DVD with beginning students to video editing. It's a no nonsence approach that keeps things moving.

Thank goodness Mr. Heid doesn't use a lot of technical jargon. He writes this book as if he is explaining the iLife features to his best friend. The book is easy to follow and interesting enough to read cover to cover, but it's also concise enough that I keep it with me just to look up specific sections when I need help with that.

The DVD that comes with the book contains many examples and techniques and is very easy to follow. I learned quite a bit by watching and reading. If you want some basic help with the iLife apps, get this book. You will learn some things and say "Oh, that's how you do that. Cool!"

Thank goodness Mr. Heid doesn't use a lot of technical jargon. He writes this book as if he is explaining the iLife features to his best friend. The book is easy to follow and interesting enough to read cover to cover, but it's also concise enough that I keep it with me just to look up specific sections when I need help with that.

The DVD that comes with the book contains many examples and techniques and is very easy to follow. I learned quite a bit by watching and reading. If you want some basic help with the iLife apps, get this book. You will learn some things and say "Oh, that's how you do that. Cool!"

I've been using Macintoshes since 1984, and am usually an "early adopter" of new software as it's released. Before reading this book and watching the DVD video, I'd already used all of the iLife applications and thought I knew how to use them, more or less.

Well, I found out that I knew how to use them less, rather than more! Jim Heid's excellent book and video is great for the novice, but it also has plenty to teach the experienced user. In this age of "no printed manual" many of us just jump into an application and figure out how to use it. In doing so, we miss out on a lot of little tricks and capabilities that really save time, improve usability, and make using these great programs even more fun! Heid brings us up-to-speed while teaching all of these small, often undocumented features that really make using the applications even smoother and easier.

This book/video combo is a great value and recommended for any Mac user who wants their computer to be the center of their "digital life."

The combination of clear prose, outstanding book design and efficient use of the resources that the DVD offers as a complement to a book, makes this book not only a pleasure to read, but a unique learning experience. I could not put it down. I know many people who can't read past the first few pages. They will lose the enthusiasm soon. Not with this book. It is a standard to be followed. Concise and precise but at the same time so comprehensive and wonderful to read.

I have bought many computer books (20 in the past year due to switching to a different computer system) and this is the hands-down best value ever. The DVD alone is easily worth what Amazon charges for this book - there is nothing quite like watching someone actually doing the work to teach you how it is done. The book itself is very clearly written, and colorful and highly informative to boot. I bought some books that covered only one of the iapps previously, and found this book was at least as informative as those books - and it covers all four iapps! I have loaned it to friends and recommended it to several others, and they have all raved. In addition, the author has posted a free update on his website covering itunes 4 - so the most up-to-date book (as of now, July 1 2003) is even MORE up to date.

The Macintosh iLife consists of a DVD, a 193 page book and Internet support. The combination works.

In the book, Jim says the picture quality is a bit better if you play the DVD on a TV set instead of on your computer. The book tells you how to use the DVD remote choose the topic you want.

I popped the DVD into my iBook. It started displaying the DVD full screen in a better picture than I get from our TV set.

Soon I was watching moving close-ups of Jim Heid's monitor as he showed me how to create and name an iTunes playlist. I watched his cursor as he clicked one selection and then shift clicked another to select contiguous tunes. Then Jim command clicked individual tunes to add them to the selected list, and dragged the whole selected list to the new playlist. Next I watched Jim explain that there is another way. The view shifted back to the action on his computer as he used the same methods to select another set of tunes, and then went to the file menu and choose New Playlist from Selection.

That is the advantage of the DVD. In about 90 minutes Jim actually shows you how to do practically everything with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. I was particularly impressed Jim Heid used the iPhoto Retouch tool to rub over a dirty spot on a little girl's face, scrubbing the picture of the face clean as if it had been done with a washcloth. And, when I saw it working, I found the way the iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD work together was more impressive, more elegant than when just reading about it.

My first impression when I looked at the book was one of disappointment only 173 pages not counting the index, and in large type. As expected book is laid out with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD sections. Within each section, topics are covered in two page illustrated spreads without the hundreds of densely packed words that I had expected. But once I looked into the two page spreads covering topics such as Improving Sound Quality with the Equalizer, Tuning into Internet Radio, and Analog to Digital: Converting Tapes and Albums, I found that they covered the subject, did it clearly, and contained information that I had not remembered seeing in those more densely packed books.

The DVD and the book are designed to work together, and they reference each other where appropriate. You do not have to have the book open and watch the DVD at the same time, but the two need each other for a complete package. In my opinion, the two together will teach you more in less time than you could possibly get from either a book or a DVD alone.

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