IPod shuffle problem with iTunes 7

Question

In all previous versions of iTunes I had an icon of my iPod shuffle always visible on the left hand side of the screen underneath the library. This allowed me to drag and drop new content to this icon and remove old content. Then, when I plugged my shuffle into the USB port iTunes would update my shuffle with the new content and remove the old content. The icon of my suffle would stay displayed in iTunes even when my shuffle was not conneced to my computer.
Since installing iTunes 7. The shuffle icon only displays when my shuffle is synced to my Mac. When I unplug my shuffle the icon disappears. The other problem is that once I sync my ipod shuffle and start dragging content to the shuffle it automatically starts downloading and slows down the whole process of dragging a second or third piece of content to the shuffle.
I really liked having the ability to organize the content on my shuffle without having the shuffle synced. Any suggestions how I can get this to work in iTunes 7??
eMac   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

Answer 1

Unfortunately, as you are aware, the Keep this iPod in the source list option does not exist in iTunes 7.
So the first thing you will probably want to do is let Apple know your feelings on the matter by submitting the feedback form on this support page .
Done that? Okay then, so now you'll probably want to make the best of the situation by figuring out if there's any kind of workaround to deal with the matter.
The best I can come up with is suggest that you create a playlist dedicated to your iPod shuffle which, for discussion's sake, we can call the iPod Shuffle Playlist.
Once you have created that playlist, when you connect your shuffle to your computer you can drag the Shuffle Playlist into your shuffle.
After disconnecting the shuffle you can get to work on modifying the Shuffle Playlist for your next update.
Note that you will have to manually clear the iPod shuffle's contents before putting a new Shuffle Playlist on it.