Random mode repeats same songs in previous sequence

Question

My new 1GB shuffle doesn't seem to truly play back songs in random order. Whenever I select random mode, I hear the same songs I played previously--in the exact same order I heard them in before! Here's the sequence of events:
1. I load the shuffle from my iTunes library.
2. I listen to maybe 20 songs in random mode, then turn off the shuffle.
3. The next time I turn on the shuffle in random mode, the same 20 songs I heard previously play back in the same order they were originally played. I have to skip through all of them to get to new material.
4. I lsiten to maybe 20 more songs, then shut it off.
5. The next time I listen, the same songs form both occasions play back in the precise order they were previously played in. Again I have to skip ahead manually.
6. Stages 3 through 5 repeat each time I listen to more music.
I don't know if this is happening because of a fault in the firmware, or if it's a problem with the shuffle's flash memory system. Either way, the shuffle won't reset altogether when I enter random mode; it retains the songs it played before, and in the order played. Perhaps another firmware rev is needed to fix the problem.
Is anyone else experiencing this with their shuffle?

Answer 1

I found an article that says we're both kinda right (the bold is my formatting):
"The iPod shuffle includes a handy shortcut for going back to the beginning of its playlist: just press Play/Pause three times and the shuffle will start playing at the beginning of the first song. (You don't even have to say, "There's no place like home.")
If the iPod is in shuffle mode, it will reorder the playlist before starting over. You can use this trick to quickly get to songs at the end of the playlist, too. Just triple-click to go to the start, then press Previous to wrap around and get to the last song. While other iPods let you choose whether they start over or stop when finishing a playlist, the iPod shuffle always starts over, for the sake of simplicity, which makes this tip work. (It also works on other iPods if you turn on Repeat All in the settings. But other iPods have screens, which makes them somewhat easier to navigate.)"
It's actually a pretty informative article.