My replacement iPod (see here for why I needed a replacement) is the next generation. A little sleeker and rounded, and a new color. My old one was black, the new one is silver. I don't mind, as it matches my new MacBook Pro.* The new version of iTunes took some getting used to, particularly setting up the selection of music to sync with the iPod. Because my iPod has 4 GB and my computer has 16.5 GB of music, choices must be made. I'd prefer it if iTunes would cycle through the whole library slowly, replacing recently played files every time I resync. Any suggestions on how to do that?
* Okay, it is really DePauw University's new computer, but I get to use it exclusively for the next three years** so let's not quibble about de facto versus de jure.
** Tenure Review Committee, Dean of Faculty, and University President willing.
4 comments:
>>> I'd prefer it if iTunes would cycle through the whole library slowly, replacing recently played files every time I resync. Any suggestions on how to do that?
Check out the smart playlists. I've created one that only has pieces where the Last Played field is older than 12 months.
Excellent! Exactly the advice I was looking for. I just created one that is only 3 GB, randomly selected, with pieces outside of the last 11 months. Now I just need to sync my iPod to this playlist.
Hmm...might I suggest a slightly more robust solution using the "least recently played" criteria?
Smart Playlists are a powerful tool, particularly when combined with the metadata and statistics iTunes stores. For example, my Nano is synced as follows:
Approximately 800 MB is reserved for data transfer and podcasts.
Any music added to the library within the last 60 days, having been played fewer than 5 times and skipped fewer than twice.
Approximately 70% of the remaining space is given to songs rated 4 or 5 stars and least recently listened to, 20% songs rated 3 stars and least recently listened to, and 10% unrated or 2 stars least recently listened to. (If I never want to hear a song again, I simply rate it 1 star)
Per your suggestion, I have created four playlists: 1 GB for Rarely Played (not played in the last year), 1 GB for Recent (not within the last month), 1 GB for Highly played (more than 4 times), and 500 MB for Never Played. I don't use the rating system much, so I can't use that system. This system leaves me enough space for my podcasts, calendar, contacts, and photos.
I may change the Never Played to a Recently Added format, I'll see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.
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