Ion Audio gets it. First they came up with a USB Turntable that allowed music lovers to rip and digitize albums to their PC. Then came the cassette player which let users do the same thing with their 80s era cassettes. But now, in an effort to make it easier for the iPod generation to enjoy the hisses and crackles of those wonderful old vinyl albums, Ion has gone a step further upgrading their USB Turntable to rip directly to an iPod.

“The idea for the USB turntables really came from a personal need,” says ION Audio CEO Jack O’Donnell. “I had boxes full of old records that I couldn’t throw away, but also couldn’t listen to. It became clear that the marketplace needed a product that would allow people to preserve their favorite vinyl in a modern, listenable format.”

Fifth Generation iPods and 2nd generation Nano’s attached directly to the built in dock, which transfer MP3s directly from the turntable at either 33 1/3 or 45 rpm. You can still attach to your PC if you want to clean up the recordings and get rid of the hisses, pops and scratches, but most people like the retro sound of albums. And with the convenience of their iPods, who isn’t going to trade in their turntable for one of these babies?

Hammacher has it for about $260.

Now, if they’d only go into video, they could rule the world.