You Hand Us Your Old CDs... We'll Do the Rest

The rise of iPods and MP3s are leading to some interesting new business models, with music download sites representing just the start.

Are you one of those folks who has a huge collection of music CDs but no time to copy them to your new digital music player? If so, Riptopia may be the service for you.

Actually, Riptopia offers two distinct services. You can ship them your old CDs, and they'll return them to you, along with a CD of your favorite songs in MP3 format. Or, you can purchase an iPod preloaded with music of your choice, for about $1 a CD plus the cost of the device.

Like services that copy your old home videotapes to DVDs, Riptopia serves an important transitory niche for new, disruptive technologies. A hallmark of such technology is that they are so different from what came before that consumers have to work to adapt to them. Services like Riptopia make their mark buy making that transition easier and faster.

Source: innovation.net