Apart from the internet, optical media is a far more economical format of media distribution than USB sticks or SD cards.
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Remove the CDROM Apple!
- Thread starter wankey
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Apart from the internet, optical media is a far more economical format of media distribution than USB sticks or SD cards.
For what type of data?
Unless you live in a cave the internet is where most folks get their data. The App store is the future, so you're probably going to see no physical software at an Apple store in the near future.
You can get a 16GB USB stick for under $20, it can be re-written thousands of times and is far more robust than a CD or DVD.
Doesn't make sense to me, if an external USB DVD is necessary to perform my duties and wishes I would prefer it to be built in. Just admitting to needing an external DVD proves it's existence, why not include it in the computer.
Unnecessary for a portable device, i.e., laptop. For your home PC it's fine, handy for converting CDs, DVDs.
How often do you need a DVD drive when on the road? Me never. It's bulky, consumes power and is simply extra mass to lug around.
What exactly would you need it for?
External super drives aren't super expensive anymore, are they? Honestly, I can see apple computers moving to this stage within 2-3 years. All of the OP's suggestions make a lot of sense. It would make the MBP an overall better computing machine in my opinion.
Plus, to the OP, there are a few extra things I would like to add:
Since the superdrive wouldn't be on the other side, there would be more room for more ports. Personally, I love the 13", because I feel lost on a bigger screen. However, I usually need more than 2 usb ports. With the super drive gone, apple could put two or more on the other side as well.
I'd like to know who doesn't own an iPod or any other brand of MP3 player. My grandma owns an iPod! If a car isn't new enough to have a 3.5 mm auxiliary jack, then chances are it has a tape deck. You can buy an aux to cassette converter for cheap. So, if we discount the three people in the U.S. that don't own an MP3 player, you don't need a CD to play music in an old car.
Production houses still use optical media widely for distribution. Can't really argue with the reasons behind the economics.
Personally not bothered about the SuperDrive being internal/external but by replacing it with something more juicy will no doubt raise the price of the MBPs and have even more people moaning.
Well those production houses are in trouble, just like the newspaper industry.
I doubt they'll replace it with anything, just design sans ODD.
I like my optical drive. CDs are cheaper to store things on than USB Flash Drives and when moving things from computer to computer I prefer CDs. I also game with them. Apple should do what Lenovo does: give an option for someone to replace the optical drive with more battery. If it's an option then everyone is happy because the people who want an optical drive still get one, and the people who don't want one have the option to remove it.
Also, you'll need more than just bigger fans to put core i7s in a Macbook Pro. I don't think Core i7s are entirely necessary yet.
Also, you'll need more than just bigger fans to put core i7s in a Macbook Pro. I don't think Core i7s are entirely necessary yet.
I wouldn't mind seeing the ODD taken in out, but only to make room for a second HDD or a discrete GPU on the 13" model. I think Apple has done a good job keeping their machines from looking cluttered by not adding useless and redundant ports on every side. I could see adding a second Thunderbolt port, but adding HDMI or eSATA is a waste when you have Thunderbolt.
The MacBook Pro is meant to be an all-in-one, light and powerful laptop. If you do not need an optical drive, buy an Air. Do you want an Air with the Pro CPU? Guess what, you can't have that. Duh.
Seriously though, it would be nice to have choices. BTO Optibay options would be neat. The MacBook "Pro" would be truly "Pro" with an SSD RAID array.
Seriously though, it would be nice to have choices. BTO Optibay options would be neat. The MacBook "Pro" would be truly "Pro" with an SSD RAID array.
Moving data between computers using CDs is archaic and unnecessary. The only thing more archaic would be using a crossover cable and serial port.
You can setup file sharing easily via Eithernet, WiFi, BlueTooth, NAS, USB HDD, even Dropbox, or use a Flash drive (they're small, cheap and much faster than burning a write once only CD)
It's no longer a matter of if the CD/DVD are dead, it's more a matter of when.
You can setup file sharing easily via Eithernet, WiFi, BlueTooth, NAS, USB HDD, even Dropbox, or use a Flash drive (they're small, cheap and much faster than burning a write once only CD)
It's no longer a matter of if the CD/DVD are dead, it's more a matter of when.
They'll be in even bigger trouble if they distributed their samples, demo's etc by USB sticks or SD cards.
As I said before, it sounds great. But until you can walk into a store and purchase that new game, audio CD, or other software you need on some other media such as a flashdrive, I just don't see it happening. I would love having the extra space for a second hard drive rather than a CD/DVD drive myself, but I have not removed mine because I still have software that requires a CD/DVD drive. I like that everything I need is built into my laptop and would not want to have to lug around anything extra. As someone else stated, the need for a CD/DVD drive is one of the main reasons I chose a MBP over a MBA. Everyone is going to have different needs, we can't all fit into one size fits all.
I'd be disappointed if Apple got rid of the optical drive in the MacBook Pros. I feel like that is one of its niches compared to the Air, although it's certainly not as important as other factors that separate the two such as expandability and power or portability.
I find an internal Optical Drive to be nothing but useful. I have operating systems, drivers, software, games, and audio CDs that are all on disks. It's nice to have hardware built into the laptop that I am using that can utilize all of those resources and media. It's not the end of the world if it's removed as there are always externals but as I said it's just nice to have in there. I find that I already get great battery life and my fans don't need to be bigger or quieter as they are do a fine job cooling and don't make too much noise. While increasing battery life and even quieter fans that shave some heat off of temperature marks would be nice, I would certainly not want to have to sacrifice my optical drive in place of such improvements.
I hate having digital downloads as opposed to physical media on a disk, but maybe that's just me. Again, I would be really disappointed if/when the MacBook Pro loses its optical drive, I figure it will happen at some point in the future.
I find an internal Optical Drive to be nothing but useful. I have operating systems, drivers, software, games, and audio CDs that are all on disks. It's nice to have hardware built into the laptop that I am using that can utilize all of those resources and media. It's not the end of the world if it's removed as there are always externals but as I said it's just nice to have in there. I find that I already get great battery life and my fans don't need to be bigger or quieter as they are do a fine job cooling and don't make too much noise. While increasing battery life and even quieter fans that shave some heat off of temperature marks would be nice, I would certainly not want to have to sacrifice my optical drive in place of such improvements.
I hate having digital downloads as opposed to physical media on a disk, but maybe that's just me. Again, I would be really disappointed if/when the MacBook Pro loses its optical drive, I figure it will happen at some point in the future.
When I finish a video product, a contractor likes a version on optical media. ;-)
Downloading 5-8 gigs via Internet isn't available for everyone yet. Some people want to be able to play it on a DVD-player and don't have the tech skills to do it themselves.
Why do u think Lion is AppStore only... The Mac AppStore isn't doing great. I think that it's due to not having something physical, from a unknown company for 40 bucks is harder to digest than an app for 99 ct or 5 dollar.
Every Mac owner knows, trusts, likes etc apple.. So apple pushes this via the AppStore to make people trust the Mac AppStore and make paying larger amounts feel more comfortable for people.
Like this they will make people adjust to downloading something important like an OS. This will pave the way for the optical bay removement. My guess is that this might happen on the redesign if all goes well (with lion on the AppStore)
BTO will not work, apple would have to make separate cases. One with the slot for a cd and one without. Not gonna happen.
Downloading 5-8 gigs via Internet isn't available for everyone yet. Some people want to be able to play it on a DVD-player and don't have the tech skills to do it themselves.
Why do u think Lion is AppStore only... The Mac AppStore isn't doing great. I think that it's due to not having something physical, from a unknown company for 40 bucks is harder to digest than an app for 99 ct or 5 dollar.
Every Mac owner knows, trusts, likes etc apple.. So apple pushes this via the AppStore to make people trust the Mac AppStore and make paying larger amounts feel more comfortable for people.
Like this they will make people adjust to downloading something important like an OS. This will pave the way for the optical bay removement. My guess is that this might happen on the redesign if all goes well (with lion on the AppStore)
BTO will not work, apple would have to make separate cases. One with the slot for a cd and one without. Not gonna happen.
That's great. That's also the reason why I said they should offer that ALONG WITH the regular version. Read my entire post before commenting please. Then I said, for clarification, that they wouldn't do this as they don't like to fragment their laptops nor computers... they like to offer 3 different models of each and allow users to pay an arm and a leg for upgrades and actual, usable components. (usable graphics cards for one)
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What's your point? Stating the obvious serves no purpose....
I love long battery life, so do the rest of the people here to have MBPs; thats one of the MAIN selling points of the darn thing. I'm planning on GETTING the new MBA when it comes out, however, as I have stated in many posts before, if the thing still only gets ~4.5 hours of life out of light usage, it won't work for me.
Stating that I'm some sort of niche market (which is slightly incorrect as college students left and right are picking these up, relevant from the HUGE sales due to back to school), doesn't really say anything... other than the fact that you can read and comprehend my posts.
Old inefficient? Yes old, very efficient though. For the "average" user (and we really should nail down what average is and get this knowledge across the board), CDs/DVDs are used for entertainment. The occasional cd for the car, the occasional dvd when one doesn't want to torrent the movie online or watch it at home on a big screen.
However, cds are used for... well pretty much everything right now. Programs, video games, hard backups (very reliable I might add), and many more. Of course you can get all of these features through the internet or other means, but that isn't my point.
CDs/DVDs are going to be here for a long time. Mainly because they're cheap, they're efficient, and they get the job done. They also allow you to have a physical copy of something, which a lot of people still value.
My son and his wife each own a Macbook, an Ipod, and an Iphone, he drives a 2005 Toyota Tundra without an interface for his Ipod.
My friend actually has a Tundra as well. Back in our 11th and 12th grade year, we had to rely on a 3.5mm to cassette converter to get the job done.
Some people seem to think that because something does or doesn't apply to them, it applies to the rest of the world as well.
How naive
And mainstream computers cost $29,999+
People said the same thing when floppy drives were the go.
I think I used my extremely outdated, no-Blu-Ray SuperDrive at least 10 times this week.
On the other hand, I lost my USB flash at least 10 times this week.
Storing OSs inside USB sticks is a good concept, but storing the USB sticks is a pain.
With CDs, I have all of my software CDs (which happen to be quite a lot) in one case, music albums (in lossless quality, mind you) in another, and blank cases in a spindle of its own. Easy as hell to organize.
Also, 8GB sticks are $10-15. A 100-disc 4.7GB DVD spindle (total of 470GB) is $22. Can't argue with that.
Also, if you're complaining about music CDs, they're of 4x quality of what iTunes offers at best (256Kbps vs 1000+Kbps). I'd prefer higher quality over anything, thank you.
Of course, for normal, everyday use a flash drive is much more useful. But for portable archive purposes, optical storage is the way to go.
Also, a GPU in a 13" would overheat it easily, since the 15" has a hard time keeping itself cool at peak times. I know Jobs said that there's no room for a GPU in the 13", but I think that's not the real reason, I think it's the heat problem.
If they come up with a viable way to store USB sticks en masse, then I'll be sold. Until then, I'll stick with cheap DVD & CD for software and music.
On the other hand, I lost my USB flash at least 10 times this week.
Storing OSs inside USB sticks is a good concept, but storing the USB sticks is a pain.
With CDs, I have all of my software CDs (which happen to be quite a lot) in one case, music albums (in lossless quality, mind you) in another, and blank cases in a spindle of its own. Easy as hell to organize.
Also, 8GB sticks are $10-15. A 100-disc 4.7GB DVD spindle (total of 470GB) is $22. Can't argue with that.
Also, if you're complaining about music CDs, they're of 4x quality of what iTunes offers at best (256Kbps vs 1000+Kbps). I'd prefer higher quality over anything, thank you.
Of course, for normal, everyday use a flash drive is much more useful. But for portable archive purposes, optical storage is the way to go.
Also, a GPU in a 13" would overheat it easily, since the 15" has a hard time keeping itself cool at peak times. I know Jobs said that there's no room for a GPU in the 13", but I think that's not the real reason, I think it's the heat problem.
If they come up with a viable way to store USB sticks en masse, then I'll be sold. Until then, I'll stick with cheap DVD & CD for software and music.
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If only Apple did this, then I would happily sell my current laptop and go for the new one:
-Kill ALL the OD inside the Macbook Pros, but have optional external USB powered DVD Drive, just like the Macbook Air.
-Increase the battery life on the 13-inch to 10 hours.
-The current CPU is fine, but a discrete GPU with at least 256MB would be great.
-A slightly slimmer design.
-Possibly have 8GB of flash stick for OS and place a 320GB HDD inside, and tweak Lion so that it will recognize the 320GB as the main HDD and ignore the 8GB (but it will be faster to boot up, etc.)
-Kill ALL the OD inside the Macbook Pros, but have optional external USB powered DVD Drive, just like the Macbook Air.
-Increase the battery life on the 13-inch to 10 hours.
-The current CPU is fine, but a discrete GPU with at least 256MB would be great.
-A slightly slimmer design.
-Possibly have 8GB of flash stick for OS and place a 320GB HDD inside, and tweak Lion so that it will recognize the 320GB as the main HDD and ignore the 8GB (but it will be faster to boot up, etc.)