In class my professor was talking about folk understanding of probability theory and how we tend to misapply it in our daily lives. He cited an example which I found *quite* humorous (probably because I’ve fallen victim to this sort of thing). When the iPod shuffle was initially released, users complained that the “random” shuffle wasn’t truly random. As evidence, they filed such complaints as their favorite Bob Seger song playing multiple times in the same day, or something to that effect. Apple responded saying that the iPod shuffle was indeed random, but people refused to accept hearing Nickleback multiple times a day (I don’t blame them). However, Apple was right. If the shuffle was to be truly random, then that would mean any song would have the same probability of playing as any other song, including the song currently playing. In response to consumer complaints, supposedly Apple released a non-random “random” iPod shuffle which would attach a delay to the end of a song after it was listened to in order to ensure it wouldn’t play twice or, oh no!, three times in a row!

Thought that was worth a chuckle :-)