Related link: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6854309/site/newsweek/
Steven Levy of Newsweek thinks his iPod Shuffle may like some songs more than others. He got a mathematican and cryptographer to see if it did.
They conclusion: the iPod Shuffle is probably random, but we aren’t. We seen patterns where there are none because we are always looking for ways to explain things.
iTunes vs. iPods
I have noticed that the iPods do a much better job of shuffling than iTunes, but maybe I am noticing things incorrectly too.
Man is a pattern-matching animal
Just tune your TV to a frequency with no picture and watch the static. You'll perpetually have the unshakable impression that there's a pattern behind the noise, some image which keeps eluding you.