This one has me scratching my chin a bit... For as long as CD/DVD media is prevalent in society, I don't see why Apple would feel the need to ditch support for it completely! I can see how it could be deemed unnecessary on a laptop, a la the MacBook Air (can't remember the last time I ever needed it while on the road) but I think for a desktop, it's a bit of an unnecessary move.
After all, the form factor is no different. And Apple might say that there is an external drive option, but I don't think it's anything like the 'compact and convenient' solution that they think it is.
How am I supposed to *stream* my current library of CDs and DVDs to a Mac Mini?
Sure it's an elegant looking machine, maybe a tad expensive and lacking in areas (2GB RAM is a little mean and as there's momentum towards switching to flash RAM, I think that whatever drives are offered as alternative/complimentary hardware, they should ALL be 7200 RPM).
Mini, Mouse, Keyboard, Superdrive... all adds up!