songs that your ipod shuffle option has an inexplicable bias for

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bob dylan - shelter from the storm.

twice in one day. what are the odds.

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

If you have one song on yr ipod, 1.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:53 (nineteen years ago)

If you have 1,000 songs on yr ipod and play 20 on a given day,

(20 / 1000) / 1

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:55 (nineteen years ago)

If you do not have an ipod, 0.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:55 (nineteen years ago)

iPod/iTunes's shuffle -- is it really random?

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

If it is truly random (which is unlikely that is) the fact that a song is repeatedly played would only confirm that is random. If a random function never generated the same results repeatedly, it would not be random at all. If it was choosing from a list of songs that have not been played recently that would be biased and not random. A random generator of numbers between 1 & 1000, can generate a 1 for 1000 cycles and still be considered random, because each cycle has nothing to do with the previous cycle. I'm thinking that people would benefit more from a variety generator that picks from a list of neglected songs that haven't been played much. And it is logical to suppose that a shuffle function would reveal these songs but if the probability that shuffle function is 1/1000 (a 1000 song playlist) they probability of the shuffle picking a neglected song is 1/1000000.

Think of someone who is blindfolded reaching into a bowl of numbers which each correspond to a song on your iPod. If they pick number #36 which means play Iggy Pop's - "T.V. Eye." After the song plays to finish, the #36 goes back into the pot and it can be immediately picked again on the very next round.

A plausible way that a random function work and be mathematically considered as close to random as humanly possible: it pulls the minutes/seconds of the iPod clock and then runs a function of those numbers to generate another number. But if some cosmic force/habit causes the listener to always shuffle to the next song at 1:59:59 or a similar time then the function is not random, because the listener becomes this normalizing force. Also if the songs lengths happen to be 2 minutes and 30 seconds on average the system could be thrown off completely.

However, since most of us play many of the songs stored on the iPod frequently and we don't put songs on there to never play them-- it may seem that the shuffle is picking a song that you play because it all likelihood you play them all, right??

― lukeeluke (soulex45), Thursday, 17 August 2006 19:45 (nineteen years ago)

About 5000 songs on mine, but damn how "Into The Infinity Of Thoughts" by Emperor and the encore of 2 Gentlemen In Verona by Cutler/Frith are its favorites.

― Antti Piirainen (Antti), Thursday, 17 August 2006 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

I had that Dischord Box Set on my iPod for a while and that godawful song Live For Now by Iron Cross seemed to play endlessly.

― paid in cigarettes (paid in cigarettes), Thursday, 17 August 2006 21:11 (nineteen years ago)

oh and my ipod loves jesus and mary chain

can't really blame it

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Friday, 18 August 2006 02:22 (nineteen years ago)

that's the most longwinded explanation of one of the simplest mathematical concepts.

― Dan Gr (certain), Friday, 18 August 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

soulfly-- prophecy

― slick dickens (slickdickens), Friday, 18 August 2006 23:10 (nineteen years ago)

Robert Wyatt, "Pigs...(In There)". I'm well and truly sick of it at this point.

― Danny Aioli (Rock Hardy), Friday, 18 August 2006 23:15 (nineteen years ago)

'echoes' by pink floyd came on shuffle this morning on the bus. i have a policy whereby i have to listen the whole track so as to contribute to the play count. it was an anxious 25 minutes

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Saturday, 19 August 2006 04:45 (nineteen years ago)

Can't you track forward until the song is nearly done, and let it play out the last few seconds or so?

― Danny Aioli (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 19 August 2006 14:52 (nineteen years ago)

If you have 1,000 songs on yr ipod and play 20 on a given day,
(20 / 1000) / 1

-- mark grout (mark.grou...) (webmail), August 17th, 2006 10:55 AM. (mark grout) (link)

bad maths alert!

― a.b. (alanbanana), Saturday, 19 August 2006 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

haha tracking forward is cheating. the devil's work

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Sunday, 20 August 2006 10:41 (nineteen years ago)

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