From an end user cost perspective, who cares = 
won't sell them to us any cheaper if they don't have optical drives built into them 
won't sell them to us any cheaper if they don't have optical drives built into them 
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New thinner iMac
- Thread starter Opspin
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i totally agree
While it would never happen, having both a thinner and slightly fatter version co-existing (like the 80GB & 160GB iPods, the 160 housing a thicker HD) would be awesome. Style for spaces that need it, and function over form (while still being beautiful) for a more productivity driven or demanding environment.
Sort of sounds like an iMac / iMac Pro scenario. I would be into that since the MP may be dead. You are right that it will probably never happen.
Any analogy based on a technology that is no longer commonly available is null and void. Can you walk into any store and buy CDs and DVDs with audio and/or software? Yes. Cassettes? Not so much.
As previously mentioned, the invention of the keyboard far predates today's, and yesteday's, physical media. And yet, people still seem to want a keyboard with their computers. Hmm. And, umm, electric start with their cars, although that's a really old invention too.
The question is not how long ago the technology was invented, but whether its intended replacement is a viable alternative. In the case of optical media, for many people that post here digital distribution is viable. But for a significant number, it is not; and it would be fair to say that the universe of people that post here are further advanced than the typical technology consumer.
For people looking for lightweight and portable, sacrificing the convenience of an internal optical drive although they still use optical discs on occasion is understandable. For people looking for an all-in-one computer, it isn't. And no, many people on this board will never, or rarely, use it. But that doesn't mean that the majority of iMac purchasers won't.
This week I used my drive to rip the soundtrack CD that came bundled with my Diablo 3 collector's ed. If I needed to first buy an external in advance, and then remember what drawer I stashed it in (or let it add clutter to a desk, quite the opposite of the goal of an all-in-one), I would have found that very irritating.
yeah, what about electricity?
but thats not the point. are people using it or not is not the point either. people here debate constantly is cd drive necessary or not, or whether people use them or not, or are there any viable alternatives when they should all be asking themselves is apple going to remove it (i think causal nexus is irrelevant in apples case). all apple software is in the app store. major 3rd party software is in the app store. itunes or 3rd party online stores sell all sorts of entertainment media. air is doing great. mini is doing great. macbook pro is probably getting odd-less in a few weeks. and also, apple is selling external one. when you add the problems of mounting moving physical parts vertically (like in imac), i say yes, imac is getting odd-less too.
i've seen all the reasons for not removing one, and i agree with some of them. but its a niche market (and they get their external). professionals who put their work on cds, dvds, blurays, and entertainment enthusiasts who like the quality of bluray movies. for most of the people itunes or torrents are good enough.
just trying to see the world through apples eyes and predict their moves because thats the only important thing, not whether they're good or bad.
i honestly believe that apple just doesnt see the odd enough high on the priority list to actually be inside of the computer. any computer.
an all that fuss about all-in-one. if macbook pros wont have them (being notebooks) why should a desktop computer (the one you are not carrying around) have them? all in one means that you have all the necessary components in the screen. odd is not necessary anymore.
I agree,this is not the point, i can use Dvds finding them really unreplaceable
or not,practically if it breaks...i have to take back ALL MY IMAC to an Apple Store to repair it..
if its outside..well not^^many could prefer not having ruined Imac line with a new
wire on the desk leading to a collector of dust which sits beside your keyboard.
Then if they slim cutting out the dvd would be a waste of..chance..in my view,instead of using that free space
to put in a monster Gpu ..or a better one without any needs to do this
http://micgadget.com/goto/http://www.flickr.com/photos/micgadget/7292592062/
ps.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/29/dell-xps-one-27-all-in-one/
dell is starting...is Apple next and close?(not a real question just my hope)
ps2.
rephrased from HAikus to the Joice way^^
or not,practically if it breaks...i have to take back ALL MY IMAC to an Apple Store to repair it..
if its outside..well not^^many could prefer not having ruined Imac line with a new
wire on the desk leading to a collector of dust which sits beside your keyboard.
Then if they slim cutting out the dvd would be a waste of..chance..in my view,instead of using that free space
to put in a monster Gpu ..or a better one without any needs to do this
http://micgadget.com/goto/http://www.flickr.com/photos/micgadget/7292592062/
ps.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/29/dell-xps-one-27-all-in-one/
dell is starting...is Apple next and close?(not a real question just my hope)
ps2.
rephrased from HAikus to the Joice way^^
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i really don't know..maybe its because my attitude..
i'm a musictherapist..i'm italian and we study a lot,really a lot poetry and poems,from Petrarca to John Donne,Dryden and Montale,Keats and Yeats..
..even if i'm not a poet...and i write songs...could it be?Does this disturb you?I really apologize
i'll be more Joyce,re-designing my periods as thin as i can to save space starting by now,then obviously i don't know how to speak and write english as you,someone said to me that my periods were burning his eyes,
so,if its not too much askin can i ask you to help me writing more correctly..would be really appreciate by me,i love to learn.Regards.
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Seems like most of them are. Canada, Italia, Sweden, Germany, US, etc have been reported.
Where does this notion of an optical drive on a desktop computer being useless come from?
Burning music to CDs for use with car radios and other players is still a pretty huge thing, as is burning video to DVDs for playback with other devices. An optical drive is required to play CDs and DVDs, and is also necessary in many cases to back them up on your computer. Many software products are still packaged in disc format, and direct-install from physical media is typically faster than online-download--especially if one's Internet speed is slow.
If you think no one uses discs anymore than you should have seen how many copies of Diablo 3 were sold at Gamestop. A digital download was offered on Blizzard's website, but many people including myself opted to buy it in-store. I will choose physical over digital media any day of the week, but that's besides the point as many PC users still have a variety of uses for their CD drives.
I don't understand why Apple should remove the iMac's optical drive anyway. It's easy to understand why a thinner appearance with increased mobility can be useful in a laptop, such as the MacBook Air for instance. But to sacrifice such an important functionality for the sake of shaving off half an inch from a desktop computer is simply vain. As an iMac owner, I don't see why Apple should go out of its way to make the machine any thinner than it already is.
If Apple decides to make this a universal thing with all their computers (especially the iMac), I will be sorely disappointed. I can buy a $300 Windows laptop with a CD drive from Walmart. I expect my $1,200 Mac to have one too.
Burning music to CDs for use with car radios and other players is still a pretty huge thing, as is burning video to DVDs for playback with other devices. An optical drive is required to play CDs and DVDs, and is also necessary in many cases to back them up on your computer. Many software products are still packaged in disc format, and direct-install from physical media is typically faster than online-download--especially if one's Internet speed is slow.
If you think no one uses discs anymore than you should have seen how many copies of Diablo 3 were sold at Gamestop. A digital download was offered on Blizzard's website, but many people including myself opted to buy it in-store. I will choose physical over digital media any day of the week, but that's besides the point as many PC users still have a variety of uses for their CD drives.
I don't understand why Apple should remove the iMac's optical drive anyway. It's easy to understand why a thinner appearance with increased mobility can be useful in a laptop, such as the MacBook Air for instance. But to sacrifice such an important functionality for the sake of shaving off half an inch from a desktop computer is simply vain. As an iMac owner, I don't see why Apple should go out of its way to make the machine any thinner than it already is.
If Apple decides to make this a universal thing with all their computers (especially the iMac), I will be sorely disappointed. I can buy a $300 Windows laptop with a CD drive from Walmart. I expect my $1,200 Mac to have one too.
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If? You can pretty much count on it. Where's iDVD? Gone. How do you get OS X updates? Digital download.
The writing has "been" on the wall. Optical drives will be a accessory to purchase for those that need it.
Do cars even come with CD players anymore? Mine uses mp3s and satellite exclusively. It's 2009 so it has a CD drive but I never use it.
My one year old iMac running the latest version of OS X Lion came preinstalled with "DVD Player". Apple made OS X updates via digital download a viable alternative by way of the Recovery Drive, and even offers a physical alternative (USB drive) for Lion. Without optical drives, you don't really have an alternative to burning music or videos to disc.
I can go to Walmart and buy a Windows laptop with a CD drive for $300. I expect my $1,200+ Mac desktop to have one too. I even conceded that its sensible for laptops to exclude them for the sake of mobility, but what is there to gain from an even thinner iMac? The only advantage would be to its sleeker appearance. You can pretend that taking out its CD drive will make it so much lighter and easier to carry, and my response to that is: C'mon dude, really???
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I don't know of any cars which don't have a CD player. I've driven with my grandma in her 2011 Buick Enclave and it still has one, and my cousin's 2009 Impala does too. Neither of them even have USB ports for MP3 playback. I mention those because my '98 Firebird probably isn't relevant to this argument. Also, people don't buy new cars every year like they upgrade their PCs every year. But a lot of people still use CDs. It must be weird to imagine that a lot of people still don't have iPods, blu-tooth radios, and iHome speaker setups but it's true.
As I time travel back to 1998 I'm sure people said the same about the iMac not having a floppy disk drive, but people got over it and the people who needed a floppy disk drive either just used their current computer which had one or bought an external drive if they wanted to use the iMac.
Times change, the way of getting media changes, people don't change.
Personally I think getting rid of the SuperDrive would be good if they put something in its place such as another HD or a larger custom graphics card or even an easy way to take out the hard drives with a door like how you can get to the RAM.
Getting rid of the SuperDrive would not necessarily make the computer thinner since the SuperDrive in the iMac is the same size as the one in the MacBook Pro and that is quite a bit thinner than the iMac. The thickest bits in the iMac will be the Heat sinks, Power Supply and the 3.5" Hard Drive.
Don't get me wrong it could be thinner since thats how most things progress they get smaller but it won't be because of removing the Optical Drive
Times change, the way of getting media changes, people don't change.
Personally I think getting rid of the SuperDrive would be good if they put something in its place such as another HD or a larger custom graphics card or even an easy way to take out the hard drives with a door like how you can get to the RAM.
Getting rid of the SuperDrive would not necessarily make the computer thinner since the SuperDrive in the iMac is the same size as the one in the MacBook Pro and that is quite a bit thinner than the iMac. The thickest bits in the iMac will be the Heat sinks, Power Supply and the 3.5" Hard Drive.
Don't get me wrong it could be thinner since thats how most things progress they get smaller but it won't be because of removing the Optical Drive
People keep saying this, but it's not the same at all. Please quit making this insanely bad analogy. Many of the people who use their DVD drive have never ever actually written any data to it on CD or DVD. DVD is still the most popular way to buy movies.
When floppy disks were replaced the only people complaining were the ones who had legacy software. The average user had actually stopped using it, and if you went to a store to buy software you were going to get it on a CD.
My 2012 BMW X1 did. You can use it to play cd/dvd/mp3 disk or to load mp3's onto the built in hard drive. Mind you, it's tough to get the mp3's ONTO the cd/dvd if you don't have a ODD in your computer. It will also rip a retail cd to the internal hard drive. It does come with two usb slots, as well, so I guess that kind of kills my argument for needing a cd/dvd. I know the ODD death is imminent, but I think it's only Apple that sees it as dead already.
I'm definitely in the "might as well keep it if we're not going to get anything for it" camp, as I would still make some use of the drive. That said, if you offered me a better video card, or some new found technology to replace it, I would definitely go for that offer without a second thought.
Don't make it thinner, though. Use your iPad on your desk if you want itty bitty. It sits on your desk. What difference does it make if it's 1" inch thick or 3/4" thick? The current iMac looks awesome! Sleek, but thick enough to have a little manliness to it. I still haven't heard an answer to my question about where the RAM will go if it's made thinner. Losing RAM expandability would definitely not be worth "thinner".
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Now... 8-tracks. You don't see those too much anymore, although I ran into an elderly lady a few months ago that had one. I was trying to figure out how old her car had to be to still have one of those