Apple fails to fix iPod safety issue!

I got an iPod a few years ago. At the time there wasn't a lot of choice, it was pretty much the only MP3 player with an 80GB disk. But I was pretty much happy with it. It was a nice player and worked well (once I replaced the earbuds), with lots of space so I could put everything I wanted on it and still have half the space to use as a USB drive.

But there were a few niggling issues, one of which I came to realise was a serious safety issue. So much so that I wonder how many people it has killed.

The iPod has no Play Queue! If it's currently playing x, you can't set it to play y when it finishes.

Instead, the iPod has its "On-the go Playlist". A fraction of the functionality of a proper Play Queue, and much more awkward to use.

This is how the On-the-go playlist works:

• Navigate to Podcast, Track, Album or Artist.
• Press and hold centre button until the screen flashes (tracks are added on to the playlist).
• Repeat as required.
• Now, to start playing the playlist, navigate to the playlist.
• Press play.

Not too tedious, I guess. But what do you do if you don't want to interrupt your current track or album? (You can probably tell I'm stuck in a past age, I listen mostly to albums, with tracks that can exceed 20 minutes, and rarely play single tracks or use shuffle.)

Say I'm listening to Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" (44 minutes, one track), when I realise I need to drive somewhere. I know the album will finish before I get there, so I'd like to queue up some more music. Well, damn! If I'd thought to put Thick as a Brick on a playlist, then I could add to that playlist. But who's going to do all those steps above, rather than just finding the album and pressing play. I can't change to playing via playlist without losing my place in the current track.

You can see where this is going.

So here's what I imagine most people will do. Drive off. When the album finishes, fumble with the iPod to select some more music and start it playing. (Hopefully at some traffic lights, if convenient). Now, I'm not going to own up to that in case my insurance company is reading, but seriously, that's going to be happening a lot. And this is probably worse than using a phone while driving. How many accidents has this caused?

The solution? Simple. Apple just needs to change the iPod to use a REAL Play Queue, or at least make it a configurable option. It shouldn't lose any functionality, and will make people like me a lot happier. (It really annoyed me when I found out after purchasing that the iPod didn't have a Play Queue!)

Here's how it should work:

• Navigate to podcast, track, album or artist (or album under coverview, another bug).
• Click the centre button to clear the Play Queue and start playing the selection immediately, or
• Press and hold centre button to add to the current Play Queue (and start it playing if the queue was empty).

Done! No navigating to find the Playlist (though you can if you want to save the Play Queue as a Playlist or edit the play queue). And you can always add to the queue.

Now why the hell can't Apple fix this, and Save Lives!