Remembering that this is all speculation here, it makes a lot of sense. Apple is moving towards eliminating all the stuff that increases power consumption and bulk in the laptops. On my daughter's laptop, she uses a USB hub and a wireless mouse, so when she docks, two quick plug ins (power and USB) and everything's docked. You can pick up a high quality external USB burner for less than a hundred, and even people that burn DVDs are less likely to do it when they are away from their docking station.
Also, DVD burners, particularly consumer grade, tend to have a relatively short life span if they're used a lot. This fits into Apple's philosophy of addition by subtraction, removing legacy features that people don't use that much.
I can also download movies, or burn DVD's to iTunes for download onto it. I have music, both videos, and and lots of CD audios. I love the App store at iTunes. I can even download a program to keep me from getting a traffic ticket in DC (in the news this week).
The trend toward flash memories is migratory. It began with necessity. Digital cameras forced the revolution to quicken. Now, we are seeing the first fruits. A 2TB isn't out of sight. It's just too darn expensive RIGHT NOW.
But, due to foresight of some in the computer industry, it's uses have blossomed and grown. There will soon be no spinning disks. After that, there will not even be anything to connect. It will just migrate through the ether, to where ever you desire...
Who knows what is next... Steve Jobs (and the Apple folk) probably has an idea or two!
Facial Detection: Another patent application, filed on March 8th, 2008, addresses the use of facial detection to allow a device to determine whether a user is passively interacting with the device. As an example, Apple describes how a user watching a video may have to periodically interact with a device in order to prevent a screen saver from activating. Apple's invention utilizes automatic facial detection via a camera on the device to determine that a user is present. The method may also be used to grant or deny users access to restricted applications or other data. -MacRumors.com