Media content programming, delivery, and consumption

A portable media player comprising:

• at least a memory and a processor configured to utilize instructions in the memory to implement:
• an interface for communicating with a host device and receiving media content arranged in a form of a play list from the host device, the play list being programmed by a media content service accessed by a community of users, the play list being personalized to a particular consumer based on activity among the community of users, activities of the particular consumer, and activities of other consumers of the media content service within a social graph of the particular consumer who have been identified by the particular consumer as friends and who have identified the particular consumer as a friend;
• a cache arranged for caching the playlist to enable the portable media player to render the media content in the playlist when the portable media player is disconnected from the host device;
• and
• a user interface enabling the particular consumer to play the media content, read reviews of the media content from friends, and input navigation commands for navigating forwards or backwards to a preset navigation point in the playlist, wherein media content in the playlist which is skipped is identified as being disliked by the particular consumer, and the user interface imposes a limit on how often the particular consumer may skip media content in the playlist;
• the instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the portable media player to at least:
• collect information that is specific to the particular consumer and store the information in the memory, the information comprising media content on the portable media player and likes and dislikes of the particular consumer based on media content which is consumed by the particular consumer;
• and
• provide the information to the host device when the portable media player is connected to the host device for delivery to the media content service over a network.

A method performed by a portable media player for interacting with media content, the method comprising:

• establishing a connection to a host device;
• receiving media content arranged in a form of a play list from the host device, the playlist being programmed by a media content service accessed by a community of users, the play list being personalized to a particular consumer based on activity among the community of users, activities of the particular consumer, and activities of other consumers of the service within a social graph of the particular consumer who have been identified by the particular consumer as friends and who have identified the particular consumer as a friend;
• caching the playlist on the portable media player;
• rendering a user interface on the portable media player when the portable media player is disconnected from the host device, the user interface enabling the particular consumer to play the media content, read reviews of the media content from friends, and input navigation commands for navigating forwards or backwards to a preset navigation point in the playlist;
• identifying media content in the playlist which is skipped as being disliked by the particular consumer;
• limiting how often the particular consumer may skip media content in the playlist;
• collecting information that is specific to the particular consumer, the information comprising media content on the portable media player and likes and dislikes of the particular consumer based on media content which is consumed by the particular consumer;
• and
• providing the information to the host device when the portable media player is connected to the host device for delivery to the media content service over a network.