Even after the first launch of portable music players, manufacturers still cater to the customer market with a seemingly endless list of options. Available in various shades and shapes, players for cassettes and plastic disks are being replaced by smaller devices with more storage space than one knows how to handle. The consumer is strongly advised to be familiar with various methods on how to transfer music from iTunes to their chosen iPod. Instead of being stuck listening to a short list of songs in a repetitive cycle, why not load thousands into the player and run them in no particular order? To copy music from iTunes to an iPod, you must first have a computer installed with iTunes. While the application can be used to download preferred songs from the web, it also functions as a mediator between the computer and the iPod. A physical connection between both devices is achieved via a USB cable with a compatible connector to the music player. With the iTunes application running on the computer, the connected iPod can then be viewed, and files can be manipulated back and forth. Click on the song or selection of songs using the Ctrl key, and drag to the iPod menu. Once the progress bar completes, you have mastered how to transfer music from iTunes to iPod 101. As applications are full of preferred settings, you have the option of configuring the update modes whenever the iPod is connected to the computer via iTunes. To save time identifying songs recently downloaded from the web, the user can choose to automatically update all songs and playlists, thus ensuring full synchronization whenever a connection is made. This also ensures one has a backup of his music library in case of computer issues. Alternatively, new songs can be downloaded directly into a specific playlist which is then synchronized to the iPod upon connection. This is among the most efficient options since there is no need to copy music from iTunes to iPod if the song already exists within the latter. Since storage is exhaustible, the iPod will reach its fill in due time. A feature within iTunes allows the selection of songs and other files to fit within the remaining space. Rules on which and how to select can be determined by the user. Alternatively, the application performs a random selection on what goes and what stays.