I had recently installed Photoshop Elements. The next day I plugged in the Ipod and Photoshop Elements automatically opened up to try to find pictures on the Ipod.

I really don’t want this to happen. The reason it happens is that Photoshop Elements sees the Ipod as a card reader or a USB device.
In the preferences for Elements click on “Camera or Card Reader”. Uncheck the box that says “Autolaunch Adobe Photo Downloader On Device Connect”. Then click ok.