Apple will alienate a lot of their customers who like upgrading their computer throughout the life of the product, such as myself. Unless they want to lower the price of upgrading the SSD's of the retina models, they shouldn't discontinue the non-retina MBP.
While I, like you, am also such a customer and while I share your sentiment, we're not in the majority of Apple notebook customers, not even by a longshot. If Apple alienated us (like they have always done with the MacBook Air, iMacs and Mac minis, and like they're probably going to do with the Mac Pro), I'm sure it wouldn't hurt them much at all.
That wouldn't be such a great idea. While the rMBP has a fantastic screen resolution, that's all it offers. It removes important features for many users (matt screen option, physical ethernet, optical drive, the ability to upgrade storage and RAM) and is just less flexible in every day use. If I were buying a new laptop now and the only choices Apple had were the Air and the rMBP, I'd buy a Thinkpad! Sorry Apple, but lighter and thiner doesn't help me get my job done.
First off, Apple claims to have solved the problem of anti-glare vs. glossy problem with the retina MacBook Pro and the iMac. Also, they do make fairly decent screen covers for those that are not satisfied with it (which are clearly in the minority, hence Apple proceeding as they are right now). Second off, physical ethernet isn't a commonly used feature on laptops. I use the hell out of it on my non-retina MacBook Pro, but I know that I'm in the minority there. I love the hell out of having an optical drive, but those who actually use theirs are in the minority. Plus, Apple's drives are prone to failure and will inevitably crap out; at least with an external, the price of out-of-warranty replacement is halved. Provided one has the right tools and replacement drive type, upgrading the storage is just as doable as it was before. That said, I will grant that the screw driver isn't anywhere near as common and the drives are certainly proprietary. That said, very few people take advantage of upgrading their laptop. I appreciate the ability to do so on mine; that's why I don't own a retina. But again, we're in the MINORITY. Similarly, I completely agree about the complaint on RAM. Terrible; but it's the direction the entire laptop market is headed in the more Intel's ultrabook initiative becomes the norm and the more things like the retina MacBook Pro become the standard fare in terms of high-end non-gamer-laptop laptops. Again, like you, I don't like that this is the direction that they're going with the line; but a majority of customers, especially those that don't bat an eye at having to pre-max out the RAM to 16GB and the storage to 768GB at the time of purchase (and can afford to do so) (or, contrastingly, customers that either don't care or will never need that kind of power from their MacBook Pro), will not be bothered by this, hence Apple even suggesting that the retina MacBook Pro is "the next generation MacBook Pro" almost a full calendar year ago.
