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 ...
Geesh, suddenly I don’t feel nearly so special!
I've still got my 40 pound Teac. But it really is great to be able to record things without worrying about running out of tape; and these CD things play in my car. It's also great to be able to capture live digital streams. I know some true believers think analog is better, but this guy who sits in the tenth-row-center (okay eighth row next time; for Anna!) at the Metropolitan Opera knows what unamplified music sounds like. And IMHO, NOTHING from 15 years ago comes so close to live as what one can do these days with a relatively cheap recording setup.
ML/NJ
Yeah. But that's because you don't need to lug the optical drive around. I have a USB Drive which reads and writes CDs and DVDs. It would be cumbersome to use the netbook for anything except the internet without occasionally hooking it up to load purchased programs.
ML/NJ
We actually some Beatles Reel-To-Reals, they sounded so good compared to even LPs or Cassettes back then. We had the one that would automatically reverse the tape after 10 seconds of silence, so there was no need to flip over the tape and respool.
I for one, welcome our new Apple Overlords.
Roughly a quarter of a million.
I've been transferring my LP collection to MP3 for some time now. It's really nice to be able to delete the clicks and pops.
ML/NJ
Pioneer PL-740 here. I have some old, obscure blues records that aren't available on anything but LP
Dang right. It's gettin' so these whippersnappers don't even know which toggle switches boot the mainframe anymore. My punk nephew calls me, sez, "Unca Bill, what utility do you use to create a bootable thumb with Mint on it?" and I gave him a mental backhand across the chops and I sez, "15-14-12-9-6-1 brings the HP up from the first hard drive, kid!" and I hear a strained silence on the end of the line like I'm stupid or something. Kid's driving one o' them horseless carriages around, too. No hope fer this young generation, nossireebub. No hope.
Nice when you're playing back. My deck senses a little piece of metallic tape and reverses; recording or playing back. But still this takes two or three seconds.
ML/NJ
“underpowered and overpriced”
Pretty much every Apple product ever made.
Blu Ray laughs at jobs and the apple propaganda... if Americans can’t hold it in their hands and play it without the Internet... without a computer... it will never fly. Heard it all before. Bovine poop.
LLS
First off, anything ELO did was good. But you are right, I loved that!
Another benefit, you could read the song lyrics without a magnifying glass. Of course, that might just be my old eyes going out - LOL!
Those who have used it for that a little too often don’t really need memory sticks anyway, and still regard CDs as “a ripoff” because ya can’t record on ‘em like ya can with tapes. ;’)
Good for Apple! I hated the CDs - you can’t rewind them.
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