Patent ID: 7490775

Claim:
A method of managing content on a portable media device, the method comprising: identifying a library of one or more content selections; accessing one or more rules related to user preferences for content; structuring the library of one or more content selections based on the rules to define at least one group of content selections of interest to a user; generating a first configuration for the portable media device, comprising: determining, for one or more content selections in the group of content selections of interest to the user, metrics indicating a predicted user interest in the one or more content selections, determining, based on the metrics, relative priorities for the one or more content selections, adjusting the metrics using intercontent selection factors, identifying a conflict between two different content selections having the same relative priority, resolving the conflict, and identifying a first subset of content selections from the group of content selections of interest to the user to be loaded to the portable media device; accessing one or more additional rules related to user preferences for loading content, requiring variation of content to be loaded to the portable media device, and independent of user selection of the content selections; and during a subsequent connection between the portable media device and the library, automatically generating a second configuration for the portable media device, wherein the second configuration indicates a second subset of content selections from among the group of content selections of interest to the user to be loaded to the portable media device, the second subset differing from the first subset in accordance with the one or more additional rules requiring variation of the content selections loaded to the portable media device.