Is The Optical Drive Dead For You Too?

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/27/editorial-apples-officially-over-the-optical-drive-for-better/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/27/...ive-for-better/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"I don't like it. Not one iota. But frankly, it doesn't much matter -- Apple's officially done with the optical drive, and there's no evidence more strikingly clear than the mid 2011 refresh of its Mac mini."</em></p><p><img height="228" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1312392934.usr105634.jpg" width="600" /></p><p>I've been pondering this since Jason sent me the link to this piece, and about how I feel about no more optical drives from Apple. To be honest, it doesn't bother me a bit. For example, I've slowly moved away from physical media for a few years now, selling off all my DVDs to go minimalist with what I have sitting around at my house. The clutter gets to me frankly. And I found that I usually only watched a movie once after buying it, even if I thought it was fantastic, so the thought of keeping a physical copy around just didn't make sense. I'll get it from the cloud if I need to watch it, either via Netflix or Hulu, or even rent it again from iTunes. The cost of rental, for me anyway, is less bothersome than having something sitting around gathering dust. Even with the potential for Internet down time, I haven't had that happen enough to be a factor in my decision. What are your thoughts on physical media and the demise of the optical drive? Does it give you cold sweats or make you say "meh" when you think about it?</p>

[Michael Knutson]

I've had an external super drive for probably close to a year (since MBA #2), and haven't taken it out of the box. I look at it as a $79 insurance policy. I've also got an SD drive/slot on MBA #3, and haven't used it once, so the 16GB is just sitting there. I'd go even further and say that most physical media is going the way of the dodo. I do still have my trusty time machine backups on physical disk, but all are USB connected, and take up minimal space/bother.

[mr_yellow]

the only thing in my house with an optical drive is the mac mini I purchased 2 years ago to use as an HTPC. I think i've used the drive a grand total of 4-5 times (i stream everything). I have no blu-ray player, no dvd-player, no cd-player, no computers with optical drives, (all ultra portable laptops, & a windows home server)...

Oh wait, I do have a sony 5-disc bookshelf stereo system that is currently unplugged. It also has a 2 cassette deck player (great for creating your own mix tapes!) so you can tell how old it is...

I officially said bye bye to the optical drive when I bought my first x-series laptop ages ago. Even when I was building computers well after that, I was simply moving the old DVD-drive from my old system to the new one...

Optical discs were never that good of a media form anyways due to it's "write once" restrictions. Sure, you had rewritables but the hassle was never worth it.

[sundown]

I'm sticking with optical media for now. I just authored a DVD full of family video clips. I'm not streaming 4.7 GB through the internet and I'm not buying 8 GB thumb drives for everyone. I guess I could find a video service to host it but not everyone in my family has their TV hooked up to their network. And grandma doesn't have a computer. I think it's going to be a few years before optical drives are gone from my house/office.

[DaleReeck]

On my desktops, I still like the option of a DVD drive. Especially if you have a digital media collection and need to occasional convert a DVD title. But on laptops, it's not as vital.

In fact, I took out the DVD player from my Macbook Pro 15, and using OptiBay, added a pair of those new Western Digital 1TB 9.5mm drives. That's two total TB of goodness :) That allows me to carry a completely portable version of my media center (which currently stands at 1.2TB), plus enough room for expansion and regular computing stuff, apps, etc. I suspect it won't be long until Seagate shrinks its 1.5TB 14mm drive down to 12.5mm, making it fit in a Macbook Pro main drive bay. That would bring total storage to 2.5TB. While the Macbook Airs are impressive for how small they are, I hope the traditional Macbook Pro doesn't go away any time soon. The kind of storage I have now is impossible currently in a Macbook Air and I don't want to have to stream it all.

[encece]

- Sold all of my CDs years ago. Itunes and Spotify make them unnecessary.
- Have about 100 DVDs that I would love to get rid of as well thanks to NetFlix and Hulu. (as well as Comcast streaming a bunch of stuff now).
- Home movies are stored on my Computer and stream to my TV via apple TV.

My Xbox is the last to be converted...but I believe options are coming soon from Microsoft.

[Deslock]

I buy all my music as MP3s or AACs, I buy software online, and I stream most movies through Netflix (which match or exceed DVD quality).

I still use my PS3's optical drive for GT5 and Blurays (because their quality is superior to streamed movies), but at this point I no longer need a computer optical drive.

[Jason Dunn]

The issue at hand isn't the state of optical media and whether or not it's waning; the Mac Mini is no smaller without the drive, and let's be honest, it had no need of shrinking. No, the real deal here is that Apple wants you to buy your movies and TV shows from iTunes, rather then putting in a DVD. They want you to buy your music from iTunes rather than putting in a CD and ripping it.

I don't use the optical drives in my desktop computers more than 4-6 times a month, but I'd be supremely irritated if I had a desktop computer that didn't have an optical drive and I needed one. Yes, geeks like me will always have a USB-based optical drive, but Joe Average user? Not likely.

It would have been better if Apple removed the optical drive but made it a $50 option to have one added in. And, no, having a removable optical drive connected 24/7 isn't the same thing as having it integrated. :)

[Deslock]

The issue at hand isn't the state of optical media and whether or not it's waning; the Mac Mini is no smaller without the drive, and let's be honest, it had no need of shrinking. No, the real deal here is that Apple wants you to buy your movies and TV shows from iTunes, rather then putting in a DVD. They want you to buy your music from iTunes rather than putting in a CD and ripping it.

I don't use the optical drives in my desktop computers more than 4-6 times a month, but I'd be supremely irritated if I had a desktop computer that didn't have an optical drive and I needed one. Yes, geeks like me will always have a USB-based optical drive, but Joe Average user? Not likely.

It would have been better if Apple removed the optical drive but made it a $50 option to have one added in. And, no, having a removable optical drive connected 24/7 isn't the same thing as having it integrated. :) There is precedent as Apple also killed the 3.5" floppy when it was still common. Eliminating the optical cuts the price a bit, supports/promotes their decision to discontinue sales of their software on optical disks, and perpetuates their image as being cutting edge/ahead of the curve (ie there is some marketing value to the move).

Part of their strategy seems to be to offer a finite line-up to minimize manufacturing costs through scale... Though having an additional model/option with an internal optical would probably not make for a huge production cost difference, they likely did some research before-hand that indicated they wouldn't lose more customers than they'd gain because of the minor price drop.

Also, CD sales have been plummeting for years and DVD sales are starting to decline (and Apple has stated they're not interested in Bluray - for better or worse). So this doesn't surprise me at all.

[Sven Johannsen]

I'm kinda with sundown. There is still a need for some sort of ubiquitous media to allow file transfers. Initial when the move from 3.5 disk to CD was happenning it seemed horrible to waste a CD for a file or two, but with 100 pak of CD-Rs costing $21 at Best Buy (21 cents a CD) it is a resonable economical way of distributing files, be they documents, powerpoints, pictures, family videos, what-have-you. About the cheapest CF or SD comes in at $2.50 or more, over 10 times the price, and not as universally readable, currently.

The cloud is nice, use the heck out of it, but it is not neccessarily the best way to distribute content, and sometimes not even an option. There are Government and Business restrictions to using the cloud for data transfer. Of course Apple isn't targetting those areas. There are also still a lot of folks that don't have internet access, or are on dialup. It would probably be faster to mail my Grandma a CD of Grandkid pictures than for her to download them on dialup. That's not even considering the technical delta betwen logging on, signing in, navigating to the repository, downloading the files, and storing them where she can find them, compared to inserting an autorun slide show CD.

[Jason Dunn]

There is precedent as Apple also killed the 3.5" floppy when it was still common.

Indeed, but there was a replacement with burnable CDs. There's no universal replacement for large file transfer/sharing/etc. that is available everywhere. I'm fine using the cloud with my 100mbps/5mbps Internet connection - I hardly rarely burn CDs or DVDs - but my friend with his 1mbps/256kbps connection? Not an option.

[Deslock]

Indeed, but there was a replacement with burnable CDs. There's no universal replacement for large file transfer/sharing/etc. that is available everywhere. I'm fine using the cloud with my 100mbps/5mbps Internet connection - I hardly rarely burn CDs or DVDs - but my friend with his 1mbps/256kbps connection? Not an option.

iMacs didn't come with burners either for a couple years, if memory serves.

If your friend doesn't have a fast connection and also doesnt want to use a USB optical drive, flashdrive, or HDD, then Apple obviously isn't trying to sell him a Mac mini.