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netdog

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 6, 2006
5,760
38
London
I think so. I expect that we'll see the next line of MBPs (with the possible exception of the 17") drop the optical drive as applications will be available to a large degree for download from a centralized source.
 
My use of CD/DVD format has dropped to the point where I'm sure a single external CD/DVD unit would serve the whole office of 100 people. Takes up an incredible amount of space in the computer, so good riddance.
 
Haven't used my optical drive since i got this machine over a year ago. My laptop before that went 3 years without using the optical drive for anything more than installing Office 2008 once.

App store negates the need for a optical drive other than perhaps some locked to dvd games which i tend to avoid now.
 
I have the external superdrive for my Air; I only use it to reinstall apps when I do a wipe & reinstall. Otherwise, physical media is so last century.
 
I don't think optical drives will go anywhere soon. There are certain softwares that you can't download due to size. (EastWest sample packs come to mind...)

Honestly though for laptops I think it would be a great tradeoff for most people. Ditch the optical drive and add battery life. External dvd drives can always be bought for fairly cheap. I know if it happened though you'll see all kinds of posts on Mac Rumors like "APPLE HATES US I NEED MY DVD DRIVE" and the usual "APPLE DOESNT CARE ABOUT PRO USERS" crap :rolleyes:
 
Won't it all depend on which field they are working in?

Of course it does but if you need to burn a lot DVDs for your work, you should anyway use an external burner as they are much faster. I doubt that DVDs are used that much anymore by professionals, USB sticks and memory cards offer greater capacities and are faster.
 
I don't think optical drives will go anywhere soon. There are certain softwares that you can't download due to size. (EastWest sample packs come to mind...)

lol, there is nothing you can't download. its all about getting a prober isp.
I pay $16/month for 15/15, what i get is more like 30/70
 
Of course it does but if you need to burn a lot DVDs for your work, you should anyway use an external burner as they are much faster. I doubt that DVDs are used that much anymore by professionals, USB sticks and memory cards offer greater capacities and are faster.

CDs are still used a lot in the recording industry.

The only problem I see with Apple dropping the optical drive in their laptops is Apple. They are much more likely to add even more "thinness" as a new feature rather than the option of a second hard drive or extra battery.
 
lol, there is nothing you can't download. its all about getting a prober isp.
I pay $16/month for 15/15, what i get is more like 30/70

You are in Europe though, the U.S. has ****** slow internet speeds : / The fastest I can get in my area is 5mb download, 450k upload but it never actually gets anywhere near those speeds :( Thats $45 a month.
 
You are in Europe though, the U.S. has ****** slow internet speeds : / The fastest I can get in my area is 5mb download, 450k upload but it never actually gets anywhere near those speeds :( Thats $45 a month.

Your lucky. I can only get 1.5mb. Fast enough to not be totally useless, but I don't look forward to downloading things.
 
You are in Europe though, the U.S. has ****** slow internet speeds : / The fastest I can get in my area is 5mb download, 450k upload but it never actually gets anywhere near those speeds :( Thats $45 a month.

jebus!
15/15 is the slowest I can get, that is not mobile.
friend of mine has 90/90
 
It would be nice if the ISPs didn't cap your service. i much prefer DVDs for software since it gives me at least a backup to start over if necessary. Downloading a large application at 3mbs is going to take quite a while and your ISP isn't going to be happy about it; you might get throttled as well.
 
It would be nice if the ISPs didn't cap your service. i much prefer DVDs for software since it gives me at least a backup to start over if necessary. Downloading a large application at 3mbs is going to take quite a while and your ISP isn't going to be happy about it; you might get throttled as well.

Excellent point, although I do think physical media is being faded out. I think it's much easier to stream/download a film rather than buy a physical DVD and have to physically store it somewhere. But issues like bandwidth caps certainly don't help.
 
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