A man picks up a rental car in in Burlingame, Calif., near San Francisco International Airport this summer. The car was left with the FlightCar company by a traveler who then flew out of the airport. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption
The Sharing Economy: A Shift Away From Ownership? Our Internet-connected world makes it easy for anyone to become an entrepreneur by offering up an unused resource for sale or rent, be it an empty bedroom, a parked car, or a skill. How much of an impact is this culture having on our economy?
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The Sharing Economy: A Shift Away From Ownership?
A Lyft driver in San Francisco drops off a passenger as a taxi passes by. The smartphone app lets city dwellers hitch rides from strangers. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption
Co-workers at Denver's Galvanize, a tech hub in Colorado's capital. Elise Hu/NPR hide caption
Diners take part in the Herbal Remedy Picnic event, a meal arranged through food sharing site Feastly, in Washington, D.C. Jeff Wilkes hide caption
Napster founder Shawn Fanning in February 2001, after a ruling that the free Internet-based service must stop allowing copyrighted material to be shared. Paul Sakuma/AP hide caption
Renting out your couches — or your entire place — is powered by San Francisco–based Airbnb, which has now connected more than half a million willing hosts and travelers in more than 34,000 cities. iStockphoto.com hide caption
Citi Bike is the bike sharing program that launched this May in New York City. Bike sharing is part of the sharing economy. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption