This is very, very cool. Slim Devices, the people who make the open-source SqueezeBox, have announced a CD ripping service. For $129, they'll rip 100 CDs for you and send you back a DVD with all the MP3s or other format of your choice. Lower prices per CD when you ask them to rip more, and 20% surcharge if you want FLAC or some other lossless standard.

What a great idea! I'm still only half-way through ripping my collection, and this would be an excellent way for me to finish the job off, once and for good. Furthermore, I'm intrigued by the FLAC option. I could then transcode to whatever I wanted after the fact. Of course, from Slim Devices' perspective, it's also a good deal for them. You know that many of their customers will send the same CDs, so you're gambling that you don't have to really rip every single CD. However, unlike the failed my.mp3.com, there's (hopefully) no question about licensing issues.