“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...”
Pure flabble-babble. This guy’s probably right that “optical” media will disappear eventually, at least as completely as records, cassettes, and floppy disks (which haven’t actually disappeared, but you know what I mean). Which he knows because he’s seen it happen with records, cassettes, and floppy disks. But Apple’s latest doo-dad has nothing to do with it.
It’s called hyperbole... a literary device used to make a point by exaggerating/inflating reality in the process.
This is no doubt a throwback to Apple’s roll (at least by some) in the demise of the floppy disc. Apple didn’t cause that either - but they were the first major PC maker to go out on a limb and just say “no more”.
Apple still sells computers with optical drives. The MacBook Air has always been about ultra-portability. The entire netbook market is in the same situation - no optical drive. Using flash drives makes a whole lot of sense across the whole spectrum for software installs.
I have yet to find where Apple has said anything about the demise of the optical drive. This, again, is the hyperbolic writing in an editorial about a couple of product announcements...