As it pertains to this new series, I was reading here and there that some folks found their iTunes random setting wasn’t really all that random. It seems that the algorith does randomize your collection, but then holds that new randomized list in place. It does this, mainly, so that you can easily skip back to a previous song, rather than having to go searching for it again.
The simple fix is simply to toggle the random play off and then on again whenever you want it to freshly randomize your collection. This creates a new randomized list.
keepsmealive 
The IT Crowd is so awesome, I think we’ve watched it through at least 3x.
BTW, iTunes is apparently dead, and Apple Music has taken over. Hang on to your iTunes as long as you can- if there are any updates on your Mac, the Apple Gods will likely take it from you.
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I wonder if I’ll even get updates anymore – my iMac is so old now that it won’t take the newest OS release, so who knows.
I had heard something about iTunes dying, and thought it was a good idea. I’ve never really liked it. It tries to do too much, and doesn’t really do much of anything intuitively or well (at least, to me). The only reason I get along is I’ve been using it so damn long, now, but I’ve found many things I thought could be done better/differently over the years to even just simplify the system.
I have been known to rant that they ought to separate the music out from other things, as it’s the only thing in the ‘suite’ I actually use, so if they wanna do that they can go right ahead, so long as they get it right and don’t f*ck it up by making change just for the sake of making change. If they do f*ck it up, I’ll be looking for music player alternatives that work well with Mac OS X. At that point, I will happily be accepting suggestions from other Mac users/folks who know their stuff.
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As a PC and Android user ( and I do have access to a MacBook Pro at work too), I would even use iTunes, because for the longest time, it was THE BEST player out there. Oh, yes it was. But, I think the problem with these players is the DRM that is in them. You can only have so many devices linked, and at one point, pulling any music off your iPhone was a pain in the a$$. I could say Android does it better – they did when I had my Galaxy S2. But, now with the s8 and up, I can’t even plug my phone into my PC to play music through anything like iTunes, so there you go.
As for a different music player for OSX? Sorry, I don’t. Actually, don’t be surprised if they are all usurped by the Apple App Store to push Apple Music. Everything has gone streaming now (don’t know why, it isn’t that great TBH. We had Spotify and cancelled it).
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Gah. I dislike the move towards homogenizing everything under someone else’s control. I have a vast music collection already and I just want to be able to play it without ads, or having to pay for a streaming anything. I’m going to spend some time on Google and see what comes up under alternatives.
My lovely wife has been using the same HTC One S cell phone since 2012. It still works (!) but it hasn’t had a firmware update in so long it just is what it is. I’m on an iPhone 6S Plus (from James), and my iMac is a 2011. Hell, even my car is 12 years old. Point being, I think we’ve been lucky for a long time that things have lasted as long as they have. The new tech isn’t built to last, we’re supposed to just accept paying too much and then disposing of it and that pisses me off. The culture says you’re not with it if you don’t have the newest thing, that’s always been true, but everything has accelerated so quickly in the last few years that things are out of date even before you buy them (it seems). I was just saying to my lovely wife that we oughta just get flip phones and be done with it. They’re $50 and if they break who cares. Get another. I often think about how to simplify my digital life, and I will be Googling some of that too. It’s not so much option paralysis as it is just complete burnout on the relentless troubleshooting and upgrading and hassles and compatabilities… I’m just tired of all the mind power and time spent, you know?
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OK, so this was pretty informative:
https://beebom.com/best-itunes-alternatives/
There’s more here (I Never thought of using VLC for music, I only play videos there!):
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-itunes-alternatives-for-mac/
And here’s 20 free options (some of which will be repeats from above, natch):
https://tricksfest.com/itunes-alternatives/
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The IT Crowd was a trivia question the other night in the Queens Grad Club radio/online trivia night – my wonderful wife got it for the team! And that is my trouble-shooting for everything technology, turn it off/on!
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Awesome! Yeah, I actually even take his next bit of advice there as first steps. Is it set up/plugged in/updated correctly? THEN have I tried turning it off/on? If it still doesn’t work, it’s time to hit up Google…
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Lol
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Have you seen the IT Crowd show? If not, it’s recommended. So much hilarity!
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No I haven’t. If it’s on Netflix, I’ll give it a go.
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The radiotimes says “You can watch The IT Crowd on Netflix, Channel 4 On Demand, iTunes or Amazon Prime Video.”
I don’t know if your Netflix has it in your region, but if you do, give ‘er!
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I will
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