More iPod Gripes

So after losing my old 60-gig 4th-generation iPod at a hotel in Malaysia )-: I got home and ordered a new one, a 60-gig 5th-generation iPod. The new one is thinner than the old one, can play videos, and is black.

I use it mostly at the gym, but also in the car and sometimes out and about or at home. I like it a lot. I'm not one of those rabid Apple fans, or, perhaps, even an Apple fan at all, but I must admit that Apple does a very good job of keeping things simple and clean, yet leaving more advanced features just under the surface within easy reach of those who want them.

So, it is with that in mind that the few features I wish my iPod had stand out so glaringly in my mind as “missing”. Since I'm sure Steve reads my blog, I thought I'd post my new iPod feature wishlist (which is in addition to the old one):

  • If the per-song option to trim some time off the start and/or end of a song is used (so that only some middle portion actually plays), the “song time” and, if used in a playlist, the “playlist time” does not reflect the shortened time. This is exceedingly annoying, since I use this feature the most on songs for my “30-minute workout” playlists for the gym, and it becomes quite difficult to keep track of how long the playlist will actually play.

  • Similarly, on the iPod itself during song playback, there's no indication that the “remaining time” isn't really the time the song will continue to play. It's the time the song would continue to play where the stop-playing-early option not used. This is inconvenient.

  • While playing a song, the “menu” key brings you up to the song list, but it doesn't show you where in the list you currently are, but the top song on the list. This is retarded, at best.

  • I would find it convenient if some of the per-song options were actually per-song, per-playlist. For example, when using a song in one of my gym playlists, I trim off any slow intros or exits (as per the first bullet above), but I want that trimming only when hearing the song in the gym-related playlist. I'd also like the song volume adjustment to be this way.

  • It'd be nice if I could specify an alternative name or title string to show up in the display during playback. For songs in my gym playlist, I'd like to show the beats-per-minute of the song, but I wouldn't want to see it when playing via other playlists.

  • There are some playlists for which I always want the play order to be unchanged (my gym playlists, and ones dealing with classical music), and others I want the play order to always be random (anything else). I really wish I could set the “randomize” feature on a per-playlist basis.

  • When I go to the list of podcasts and select the first one to play, why doesn't it continue with the second one once the first one is done? Why is the podcast list the only list that doesn't “auto-continue”? It's frustrating enough that I stopped listing to podcasts.

Apple, your attention to these issues for the next software upgrade would be most appreciated. Thanks.


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