So far as I know, you can't normally put stuff from your ipod to your computer, only the other way 'round. Quoting P. Buckley and D. Clark's The Rough Guide to iPods, iTunes and Music Online*:
The standard setup is that your iPod simply mirrors the Library on your computer (p.24)
However, there appears to be a way to do that if you don't mind a little hassle, but I'm not sure how (though I'm sure somebody will show up and tell you how
). I believe it involves downloading some extra software. Still, I think it's not strictly above-board behaviour, I take it
, but I'm not sure 'cause I've never tried it (actually I've never tried putting music on an ipod either lol, but I just happened to know that because I'd just read the relevant bit in the book preparatory to getting a nano
)
that said, to avoid having the ipod mirror your itunes collection exactly (with the ipod getting emptied when it connects to an empty iTunes), I think you'd have to do sync manually (where you get to pick exactly what goes into the Pod. But you'd need to confirm that with somebody more experienced
To be honest though, I'm not sure not keeping the songs in your computer is worth it. various Things could happen to an iPod, with which you're going to be going around doing stuff, it could get stolen or broken (I hope not though! that would be sad
), so it makes sense to have a backup rather than have to go through the hassle of re-ripping all your music. Though I daresay if you're on a mac with Time Machine, where the stuff stays accessible at least for a while even if you've deleted it
and emptied the trash, it could be a compromise. Bear in mind though, that it appears to be illegal to have music on your ipod that you downloaded but no longer have on your computer (not sure it's even possible, just saying
). Overall, having thought about this too, I don't think I'll do it when I get mine, and not just because I'll be wanting more music at home with my macbook than I will be able to fit on the Pod--it just seems too much hassle and too likely to end in tears lol. Simpler to get an external drive and dump all the media on there if I start to run out of space
*I
really like this book and recommend it. I had lots of questions about ipods, and used to go around trying to find people to answer them, which bored the pants out of everyone, but since I got this it's answered a lot of my questions--it's short and concise but there's actually a lot of info, just not wordy. I also thought it's nicely judged in terms of tone, not patronizing but not assuming you already know masses of stuff. I can be difficult when it comes to books like this, but have found this to work very nicely, which is why I decided to recommend it 
