iPod shuffle play "algorithm"?

First off, I'm thrilled to bits since I discovered that my 3rd Gen iPod does infact have a shuffle play feature. In a most un-Apple like fashion this highly desirable feature is accessed in a completely un-intuitive way. If you, like me, thought that shuffle was reserved for 4th Gen iPods and above here's how you get shuffle play:

Main Menu -> Settings -> Shuffle

..then choose from Songs, Albums. The default is Off (why???).

Then, at the main menu, just press the Play button and where it would normally play all the songs on your iPod in the order you loaded them it will now shuffle play, indicated by a small shuffle icon below the battery indicator. Result!

Please don't tell me I'm the only dunce that didn't figure this out for ages?

Anyway, to the point of the post:
Is there an algorithm that the iPod uses when selecting songs for shuffle play (perhaps based on music type, artist etc) or is it purely random? It seems to be uncannily good at selecting things that go well together.

Michael.

 

I had given up on this!!!

I'd like it (4th gen) to shuffle songs within a given genre or playlist. Not completely at random from the whole list. I'll have a play (groan!) now.

 

my mini ipod very occasionally plays REM followed by REM followed by REM; the entire REM back catalogue is on there; with a total REM ipod count of 142 songs out of 1008 total ... well you can work out the odds of 3 in a row, seems unlikely.

i think it just likes certain songs !

 

I've noticed that mine seems to stick to certain artists, you'll get one from a band, and then a few later another one. Michael, that's how my 4th gen ipod sets up shuffle.
Anyway mines got the entire Oasis catalogue on it....

 

Do you have shuffle set to song or album?

 

You know I don't know, I've only had it a week or two

 

M Gen 1 has shuffle

 

Right, I had a quick look at it and found out how to shuffle based on genre, albums, playlist etc. All I needed to do was to go in settings and enable options such as playlist etc on the main menu. Then if you select shuffle, this can be used with genre, playlist etc. etc. It is actually quite intuitive, but I was just too lazy to look at it until Michael started this thread.

 

Having said that it appeared to be not entirely random I've had some hillarious shuffle sequences such as just now:

Rammstein: Rein Raus (from Mutter)
John Coltrane: Resolution (from ALS)
Harry Connick Jr: Mary Ruth (from Lofty's Roach Soufle)
Saint-Saens: last movement of Symphony No.3 (organ).
Caetano Veloso: Não Enche (from Antologia 67/03 CD1)

Before I started using shuffle I would have been dubious (not to say horrified ) about having single movements from classical pieces sandwiched between other types of music...and no doubt there are those that think that having Harry Connick Jr following John Coltrane is worthy of 1000 lashings :torkmada: but I'm actually enjoying all the mixing up.

There's so much stuff I've got on there I'm embarrased to admit I sometimes have to look to see "what the hell is that??" :shame:

Michael.

 

Having Harry Connick Jr at all is worth at least 1000 lashes.

Admitting it - 1000 more.