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June 26, 2007

ipod

Podcasts on my iPod shuffle

Posted Jun. 26, ’07, 3:08 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen
Category | iPod

shufflepodcasts.jpg

Since my big ol’ iPod (as in $300-less-than-two-year-old-iPod Photo) went into a coma a few weeks ago—I’m too lazy to try to revive it a third time for now—the pack of gum that is my iPod shuffle has faithfully served my music and podcast listening needs. As I’ve said before, I enjoy the shuffle for music, but I wasn’t quite sure how it would hold up when listening to podcasts.

In short, it holds up OK. I’ve set to update my shuffle manually, so it’s simply a matter of dragging the podcasts I want to listen to, until the next sync when I delete the old ones and replace them with un-listened content. Sure, it’s not the seamless experience I’ve grown accustomed to, but it’s a reasonable solution.

However, there are some annoying shortcomings, at least with my first-generation model. For example, podcasts will automatically jump to the top of your playlist and place themselves in a kind-of-random order, regardless how you arrange them in iTunes. Also, to fast-forward 30 minutes into a show, prepare yourself to hold the “forward” button for a long time.

Then, there’s the issue of storage. Owners of 512MB shuffles like me will find that they’ll have to delete a large number of songs to make space for podcasts; typical podcast files are anywhere from 10 to 50MB in size, so prepare to do some housecleaning, especially if you want to fit many episodes at a time.

There is something you can do to simplify the process of loading stuff onto the ‘pod, though: create a smart playlist for audio podcasts that haven’t been listened to. To do that, set the following rules for the playlist: Play Count is 0, Genre is Podcast, and Kind does not contain Video, Movie, and PDF (that last one requires three separate rules). This is also convenient for screen-gifted iPods, by the way.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the podcast-listening experience on my shuffle—it’s certainly bearable. Until I squeeze some extra life out of my big guy or purchase a new player, the shuffle solution is satisfying.


3 Comments

Inkling Author Profile Page said:

Yes, but it'd be much better if iPod Shuffles understood folders. Podcasts could go in one, relaxing music in another, and lively music in a third. Shuffles are getting so large, they need folders to manage all the files.

And it wouldn't require a complicated UI. The power switch could have a 'beyond on' position that switches between folders, as each is selected its name is read aloud in the earphones. If the switch isn't activated again for five seconds, that folder begins to play.

--Mike Perry, Untangling Tolkien


June 26, 2007 4:15 PM
Chris Lerch said:

The Podcasts aren't really in random order - they play in reverse chronological order. This is annoying and Apple has ignored requests from users to correct this. There is a way to fix it - delete your iTunes Library file (or move it out of your iTunes folder) and re-import your music by selecting "Add to Library" and clicking on your iTunes Folder. This takes time (all album art has to be re-added and you have to re-subscribe to your podcasts) and must be redone any time you re-initialize your shuffle.

I finally gave up and got a nano for Podcasts.

June 27, 2007 10:09 AM
imajoebob said:

Don't know squat about shuffles. But I have a Photo that goes into a coma, too. If yours is like mine, it's the disk (big surprise). When it freezes when I'm walking the dog, I rap it against the leash, or more often my head. It comes back about 40% of the time on the first try. Otherwise it takes about 5 raps/restarts. But the best solution I've found is when I fumbled it and dropped it on the sidewalk. It worked for almost a week before it starting freezing again.

And buy your next disk-based iPod with AMEX. The disk usually dies in about 22 months, so the free replacement kicks in at just the right time. I bout a G3 in 2003. Looks like I'll be getting a Video in 2007. Maybe an iPhone in 2009?

June 28, 2007 7:54 PM

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