[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Brad Bradley 

@ besson3c... I'm sorry... I miss understood your comment on USB drive. I thought you meant such as a stick or thumb drive which will never match the media price of optical. I do have a USB optical drive that I have to pack around with my new macbook now. Not the optimal setup on a supposed to portable machine.

I'd argue that it is. It won't compete for battery power, when it fails you won't have to perform surgery on your computer, it allows your laptop to be thinner and lighter, and it allows you to upgrade the speed of your burner when you wish without performing surgery on your computer.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by blahblahbber 

I bet by the time you want to use your media, it will be damaged, time flies, and at times, you need to convert those archives. Question really is: Are you willing to pay extra for your external superdrive from crApple? $100 USD?? That my friend is a joke.

Badkosh, an external DVD burner is more like $30: http://www.newegg.com/External-CD-DVD-Blu-Ray-Drives/SubCategory/ID-420

[besson3c]

I think you guys upset about the optical drive thing are really focused on the wrong problem. This is all pretty misdirected.

The problem is not about the inclusion or exclusion of a $20 part, the real issue is the much larger reality of Apple sealing their devices and doing away with easily replaceable parts now that the last of the mechanical parts are being ushered out. If you want to complain about something, complain about this, because this is really at the heart of your actual concerns.

Why? Well, SATA drives and optical drives fail more often than any other part. Could you imagine how frustrated you'd be if you had to pay an Apple tech to replace a drive outside of your warranty? Not only will this probably an expense for you, but it would probably be a greater expense than previous generations of Macs because opening up those cases is not easy. If you decided to not replace a failed DVD burner, you'd have a dead drive in a sealed case, which surely wouldn't do much for the resale value of your Mac. How frustrated would you be to pay an Apple tech to install a new DVD drive for you knowing that the part is just $20?

You really don't want an optical drive in a sealed case like this, this seems like a terrifically horrible idea. Being in a world of having no-mechanical parts in a mobile device is far more exciting!

[Grendelmon]

This reminds me of all the people that screamed bloody murder when Apple dropped ADP and Floppy disks back in 1998. My optical drive on my Macbook Pro broke during the Apple Care period and I was not bothered to get it fixed because I never used it. I was going to pull it out and put a second hard drive in there.

While it was a bold move for Apple, it wasn't as bold as people think. The floppy was obsolete because it had been replaced widespread by optical media. That isn't the case today. Digital distribution is certainly growing but is nowhere near a replacement for optical (unless you buy ALL of your software through Apple or play games). And if you go to Target, Wal-Mart or Microcenter, how many software boxes have thumb drives in them? Not that many. And if DVD/Blu-Ray sales were tanking in these same stores, wouldn't they pull their stock of stop selling them? They keep selling them because LOTS of people are still buying them.

Don't get me wrong- I think losing the optical in an ultraportable isn't a bad idea, but a desktop? For the aesthetics? It's too early. And a dumb move at this time.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Grendelmon 

Don't get me wrong- I think losing the optical in an ultraportable isn't a bad idea, but a desktop? For the aesthetics? It's too early. And a dumb move at this time.

I agree, but for different reasons. I would say that the sealed case approach doesn't benefit Desktops in as clear a way as it does portable devices. The possibly dumb move isn't in the drive exclusion, again, it is in the sealed case approach.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Grendelmon 

This reminds me of all the people that screamed bloody murder when Apple dropped ADP and Floppy disks back in 1998. My optical drive on my Macbook Pro broke during the Apple Care period and I was not bothered to get it fixed because I never used it. I was going to pull it out and put a second hard drive in there.

While it was a bold move for Apple, it wasn't as bold as people think. The floppy was obsolete because it had been replaced widespread by optical media. That isn't the case today. Digital distribution is certainly growing but is nowhere near a replacement for optical (unless you buy ALL of your software through Apple or play games). And if you go to Target, Wal-Mart or Microcenter, how many software boxes have thumb drives in them? Not that many.

How software products are even still available in boxes?

The market for boxed software is dead. Not completely, but almost.

Even the Adobe suites are available as download versions, fer chrisssake!

[gradient]

Originally Posted by blahblahbber 

I bet by the time you want to use your media, it will be damaged, time flies, and at times, you need to convert those archives. Question really is: Are you willing to pay extra for your external superdrive from crApple? $100 USD?? That my friend is a joke.

You are clearly out of touch with 99% of PC users. The majority simply don't need an optical drive and of those that feel they need one right now, the majority likely will have realized that they don't need one by the time they are considering the purchase of a new home computer. Apple doesn't make money by including the kitchen sink in their products, they make it by catering to the majority.

As hayesk said so well, above: You are the minority. There are third party solutions for you.

Btw, and in case you didn't notice, this is a dedicated Mac forum. If all you want to do is troll, I humbly suggest that you do it somewhere else. There are several sites designed specifically for your level of adolescent techno-ignorance. Try http://www.wehatemacs.com/en/. That seems right up your alley.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

How software products are even still available in boxes?
The market for boxed software is dead. Not completely, but almost.
Even the Adobe suites are available as download versions, fer chrisssake!

Agree 100%. I don't think that I've bought a piece of boxed software since around 2004 (Pre-Lion OS upgrades excluded).