iPod "random" actually random?

Computers are incapable of actually being random, they can only simulate it to a large degree, as they are logical, if you are setting it on shuffle then as long as you only have one copy of each song it shouldn't play it twice (this *should* be so on repeat too...)

Be aware that is you have 25 people in a room the odds on any two sharing a birthday are over 50%, so you are highly likely to get artists repeating themselves.

 

The smart shuffle doesn't carry across to the iPod, does it?

 

As madjew said, the smart shuffle doesn't carry over. Since it is completely random, there's always the chance that you'll get two in a row from the same artist. I think the best way would be to add more songs.

 

You could just create a smart playlist that has all the songs, but have the specs: "Last played > is not in the last > x days/weeks/months". That way, songs that haven't been played, let's say, in the past week, wouldn't be on there, and they wouldn't be playing several times in a day.

 

Even better, create a large playlist, then limit it to 2 hours or so, sorted by "least recently played". That way, you always have a full playlist of the things that weren't played most recently.

 

Do Smart Playlists update on the iPod without syncing to a computer first? Mine's always plugged into my Mac so it's always up-to-date and I've never noticed whether it updates automatically.

 

The playlists only update when syncing sadly. One good way to get around this, just make a playlist of all your songs, set the ipod to shuffle songs, then play the playlist, the songs won't repeat unless you sync the ipod or it shuts off after 2 days of no use or however long it is.

 

I read a story on it saying that it is not random at all.

 

Nope... They used to but the iPod Update that introduced the Podcast directory broke the Smart Playlist update capability

And I don't think the preference in iTunes is much better. Mine's set to not play the same artist but there are still times where it will play a song that only played 10 tracks beforehand or give me 3 within 5 from the same artist.

I'd suggest making a smart playlist on your computer - and ordering that by some random like 'date added' or 'last played' or 'time of track' or 'name of song' whatever and then take your iPod off shuffle - it will then play everything in the playlist in order but (hopefully) without repeats.