Posted on 10/21/2010 12:38:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Stop. Take a deep breath. Before my headline gets you all worked up, consider what I'm saying here. The CD and other optical discs, like DVDs and Blu-rays, are obviously going to live on for a while as a way to transport media. But make no mistake that today, with two unveilings, Apple has effectively sealed the fate of the optical disc in the computer industry. Soon, it will go the way of the floppy disk...
First of all, the first-generation Airs were a bad combination of underpowered and overpriced. That is no longer the case. Second, they required some convoluted desktop computer CD syncing system to be able to install something from an optical disc to the Air (or an optional USB add-on). That is also no longer the case (though both still exists).
When you get your MacBook Air and you open the box, you will find exactly zero optical discs inside. Normally, Apple includes at least one back-up DVD to reinstall OS X and other software if your computer fails. But now, that has been replaced with a super-slim USB stick. This stick, packed in with your manual, is all you need to reinstall your system now.
This makes a lot of sense. CDs were replaced by DVDs because they offered a lot more storage. But flash memory cards, such as the one Apple includes with the Air, are already blowing DVDs out of the water when it comes to storage. They may still be more expensive to produce, but Apple has clearly figured out a way to make it work. I suspect we may see more drives like this one (which use much less plastic than typical USB flash drives -- and appear to even use less plastic than optical discs).
(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...
CDs have been under pressure for a over a decade — number one, they became trivial to reproduce; number two, their price didn’t come down appreciably even with the advent of the DVD; number three, music downloads, mp3s and other compressions, including piracy in said format; and number four, BluRay, which one of Sony’s people said would be the last optical format.
I still like reading the little booklets, and miss gatefold LPs. Don’t you? ;’)
Where did floppies go? I still have boxes of them
Not so fast. Until movies and music no longer come on CD/DVD, that won’t happen.
Optical discs aren’t just for software. Lots of people keep an extensive backup music or movie collection on disc because it’s portable and universal. Others like to author their own DVD movies or CD music discs. For those people, a computer without an optical drive would be useless.
Where did punch cards go?
Oh, and for the price, they’re still a very reliable form of backup, too. For a few bucks, you can backup gigs of information and not worry about the media being damaged or the data being overwritten.
Yup. I still prefer to purchase music on CD because I like having artwork and liner notes.
I do believe you're right.
I sure wish they would bring back 8-tracks.
H&R Block was selling their “Tax-Cut” software on a thumb drive rather than a CD at least a year ago.
I still miss the days of LPs, when they had goodies that came along with the albums, like ELO’s ‘Out of the Blue’, that had a cardboard ELO Spaceship.
I miss Reel-to-Reel. I was so adept as a kid at spooling the tapes, my dad would call me in to do it for him.
I remember that one; one of my cousins had Out of the Blue on vinyl.
Hey I have Blu Ray punch cards.
Oh “diskless” sorry, never mind.
Exactly!
I still have a few of those. :-)
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