teccy.com

Now, I’m not saying I couldn’t benefit from a bit of this but, well, good grief.

UK-based Selfridges has opened an iPod school an upmarket part of London, even though the manufacturer does it for free in its shop just round the corner.

Clueless music lovers who have embraced the trendy new technology but not the know-how can pay 65 pounds ($150) for a 40-minute lesson at Selfridges, on the popular Oxford Street shopping haunt.

A Selfridges spokeswoman said the one-to-one "iPod Survival" sessions, to be launched later this month, have been set up in response to customers who are baffled by the devices.

The lessons, which include subjects like using iTunes, installing and deleting videos, creating playlists and downloading Podcasts, are given either in-store or on a home visit.

Selfridges set up a so-called SpeedPod service in December last year, in which CDs are loaded on to the music players for a fee.

The service's manager, Kristina Rate, said the tutorials were set up in response to consumer demand, particularly from children and the over-40s.

"Our guys basically know everything about it by really being interested. There isn't such a thing as an iPod school or an MP3 player course," she said.

The tutorial, however, costs nearly as much as the cheapest iPod - the iPod Shuffle - which retails at about 69 pounds in Britain.

A short walk to manufacturer Apple's Regent Street store will also save the uninitiated money as iPod workshops there are free.

Troubleshooting and tutorial pages to help with iPods and iTunes are also available on the US computer giant's web site.

Agence France-Presse