iTunes always shows the number of items in a playlist, how long it will last, and its total size. For small playlists, this is useful to gauge whether it will fit on an iPod, or whether it will last the duration of your upcoming party. For a large playlist (or the overall “Music” view) the duration estimate can be silly:
1942 items, 4.3 days, 6.38 GB
Except… I started playing Eddie from Ohio’s Fly before I left work on Friday, and never stopped it. By Monday morning iTunes was nearing the bottom of the playlist, with The Christmas Song, as sung by Sean Hayes of Will and Grace fame on the album NBC Celebrity Christmas.
They’re not kidding about the 4.3 days.
My favorite part is that my “Last Played” dates are totally meaningless now, since a good 1,000 songs were all played this weekend – including those like Karma Chameleon that I don’t really ever want to hear. My smart playlist of “highly rated songs I haven’t played recently” is going to be useless for a few months.
I understand the iTunes clock. It’s your clock that’s got me worried.
You started before leaving work on Friday — say at noon. According to my BusiCom calculator, Friday noon + 4.3 = Tuesday 5pm. And yet you “claim” your playlist was almost finished Monday 8am! Have you been using that $800 time machine again?
Correction, dear Watson: I said only that it had nearly reached the end of the playlist. I did not mention that it began nearer the middle!
This also means your playlist “genius” will think you don’t know how to use iTunes. Now it will start playing “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “Daisy Bell” until you get up to speed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdAgrzy7nLc