On October 23, 2001, Apple Computer, a company known for its chic, cutting-edge technology — if not necessarily for its dominant market share — launched a product with an enticing promise: You can carry an entire music collection in your pocket. It was called the iPod. What happened next exceeded the company's wildest dreams. Over 50 million people have inserted the device's distinctive white buds into their ears, and the iPod has become a global obsession. The Perfect Thingis the definitive account, from design and marketing to startling impact, of Apple's iPod, the signature device of our young century.

Besides being one of the most successful consumer products in decades, the iPod has changed our behavior and even our society. It has transformed Apple from a computer company into a consumer electronics giant. It has remolded the music business, altering not only the means of distribution but even the ways in which people enjoy and think about music. Its ubiquity and its universally acknowledged coolness have made it a symbol for the digital age itself, with commentators remarking on "the iPod generation." Now the iPod is beginning to transform the broadcast industry, too, as podcasting becomes a way to access radio and television programming. Meanwhile millions of Podheads obsess about their gizmo, reveling in the personal soundtrack it offers them, basking in the social cachet it lends them, even wondering whether the device itself has its own musical preferences.

Steven Levy, the chief technology correspondent for Newsweekmagazine and a longtime Apple watcher, is the ideal writer to tell the iPod's tale. He has had access to all the key players in the iPod story, including Steve Jobs, Apple's charismatic cofounder and CEO, whom Levy has known for over twenty years. Detailing for the first time the complete story of the creation of the iPod, Levy explains why Apple succeeded brilliantly with its version of the MP3 player when other companies didn't get it right, and how Jobs was able to convince the bosses at the big record labels to license their music for Apple's groundbreaking iTunes Store. (We even learn why the iPod is white.) Besides his inside view of Apple, Levy draws on his experiences covering Napster and attending Supreme Court arguments on copyright (as well as his own travels on the iPod's click wheel) to address all of the fascinating issues — technical, legal, social, and musical — that the iPod raises.

Borrowing one of the definitive qualities of the iPod itself, The Perfect Thingshuffles the book format. Each chapter of this book was written to stand on its own, a deeply researched, wittily observed take on a different aspect of the iPod. The sequence of the chapters in the book has been shuffled in different copies, with only the opening and concluding sections excepted. "Shuffle" is a hallmark of the digital age — and The Perfect Thing, via sharp, insightful reporting, is the perfect guide to the deceptively diminutive gadget embodying our era.

Top Atlanta chefs share menus for home entertaining for every occasion in Atlanta Cooks at Home. From Gerry Klaskala's lobster minestrone to Kevin Rathbun's oregano roasted lamb loin, the chefs have shared their favorite dishes for serving guests at home and John David Harmon from Whole Foods Market has suggested appropriate wines, beers or cocktails for each menu. Whether it's a Southern Evening Soiree, Day of the Dead Fiesta, Romantic Dinner for Two, or merely a Sunday Dinner with Friends, you'll find recipes and drink pairings just right for your gathering. In addition to sharing recipes, the chefs have given rare glimpses into their "real" lives. Through photography and Q&A, you'll find chefs who like to skateboard with their children, throw Frisbees with their dogs, and one who rides his bike for hours every morning. Find out what they wanted to be when they were young - and what they would do if they won the lottery. Entertain at home with recipes from your favorite Atlanta chefs while they entertain you with stories from their lives.

Defying the stereotypical notion that technical books tend to be boring, Expert C Programmingoffers a lively and often humorous look at many aspects of C—from how memory is laid out to the details of pointers and arrays. The author reveals his points through invaluable anecdotes, such as stories of costly bugs, and through folklore, such as the contents of Donald Knuth's first publication. Each chapter ends with a section entitled "Some Light Relief," which discusses topics (topics that some may consider to be "recreational"), such as programming contests. A fabulous appendix on job interview questions finishes the book.