please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
[316 byte] By [chenwei] at [2007-11-9 12:40:09] 
there are 5 stars while a song played if you press the select button, and they are empty or full stars , but i don't know what this empty or full star means i guess maybe sound quality but i can't find any difference between empty and full ,is there somebody can give me some explaination about this ?:)
# 1 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
The five stars are a ratting system for itunes smart playlists.I think that is right, I use windows so it servers no purpose for me.
Fundex at 2007-11-15 14:16:21 >
# 2 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
yup, once you get to the rating "screen" by pressing the select button, use your scroll wheel to rate the song that is currently playing. if you are using iTunes 3 or higher for a Mac, the rating for the song will get synced back to iTunes. If you are using Windows, the rating information will only stay on the iPod, since rating is not supported on Windows/MMJB...ZoidbergD at 2007-11-15 14:17:21 >
# 3 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
Even with Windows, the rating system does seem to have an impact. I've noticed that the songs to which I've assigned 4 or 5 stars seem to play more frequently when my iPod is set to 'shuttle songs'.
Now, this is just based on my own experience... has anyone else noticed this? Or is it just my imagination?
z
zop at 2007-11-15 14:18:31 >
# 4 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
I have heard that, that is true with the more frequent song playback when in shuffleFundex at 2007-11-15 14:19:26 >
# 5 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
Originally posted by zop I've noticed that the songs to which I've assigned 4 or 5 stars seem to play more frequently when my iPod is set to 'shuttle songs'.
If that's true then there must be some different sort of software in the ipods for Windows. The Smart Playlists in iTunes 4 such as the "Top 25 most played" or "My Top Rated" use information from the iTunes 4 database or the songs individual rating to compile the contents of the Playlist. If there are no smart playlists on the iPod then that information should do nothing to influence how often a song is played. That doesn't mean that one song does not get played more often than another. That should be totally random if the software is designed well.
Well that was interesting. I just looked at my 25 Most Played. That was a surprise. i exported the list, here it is.
http://decker.is-a-geek.com/25MostPlayed.htm
randydecker at 2007-11-15 14:20:25 >
# 6 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
Well that was interesting. I just looked at my 25 Most Played. That was a surprise. i exported the list, here it is.http://decker.is-a-geek.com/25MostPlayed.htm
Sorry, Randy I don't understand... does your list of Most Played tell you that when your iPod was set to play at random, it was in fact playing your higher-rated songs more often?
That would suggest that whatever algorithm the iPod itself uses to choose songs at random does take rating into consideration. Doing this wouldn't be that hard, would it? I mean, it must have been given some parameters... starting with something as simple as: 'Don't play a given song twice in a row'.
Even that would mean things aren't entirely random, are they?
z
zop at 2007-11-15 14:21:35 >
# 7 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
iTunes 3 or higher comes with a feature called "Play Count", which keeps track of how many times any particular song has been played in full. Presumably, Randy made an iTunes Smart Playlist (or iTunes cames with a preset "25 Most Played" playlist, I don't remember) that specified for this playlist to list the 25 songs with the most play counts.Funny, most of my songs in the 25 Most Played playlist are by Radiohead.
The number of times a song has been played should not alter the Shuffle feature. It's completely random, or whichever preset that was loaded into memory to determine what songs to play in what order.
ZoidbergD at 2007-11-15 14:22:26 >
# 8 Re: please tell me what does the 5 stars on the screen means ?
Originally posted by zop does your list of Most Played tell you that when your iPod was set to play at random, it was in fact playing your higher-rated songs more often?
When my iPod is set to shuffle play it certainly does not play the songs from my most played list more often. I know this because of the number of times I will skip a tune to get to another tune. I've had this iPod since they were introduced. The shuffle is as randon as can be from my experience. If I don't play from a playlist then I really am surpirsed by the next track. Sometimes it's a tune that I don't even remember owning.
randydecker at 2007-11-15 14:23:29 >
[an error occurred while processing this directive]