@KnightWRX: I know that it is almost a "religion" among some computer enthusiasts to buy for less, replace often, but I don't buy into it, pardon the pun. Environmental concern apart, buying a device that will break twice as fast for half the price is the same than buying a good device for more money. But you get the bonus of having it in good shape for longer. Examples abound.
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Unless a satisfying reason comes out, it really seems they are letting down the demographic that supported them even through the dark times.
You put it right. "The Web is not portable". But knowing Apple and its leverage upon carriers, I wouldn't be too much surprised if a next laptop iteration includes both a SIM card slot and an all-new, no-contracts 30GB data plan (let us dream lolI disagree - a portable device SHOULD have an optical drive. "The web" is not a feasible PORTABLE solution for large files, especially HD Video, when the wireless carriers are capping, throttling and charging excessively for it. In addition, high speed wired network access is not available everywhere, nor is high speed wireless available in every location people want to use their PORTABLE computers, in addition to the cost issues associated with this kind of access.
I would be curious to know what Steve would have answered to that one. When the FireWire port was removed from the consumer line of laptops, he tersely answered that "most consumer video cameras are USB compatible", which was and is, in itself, true.I want comparable capability now in 2012 for HD BluRay that I had for Standard definition video on DVD when I purchased my 1 Ghz Powerbook G4 17 inch back in 2003. I want the ability to burn an optical disk of the 16 GB of HD video I shoot, right on site. This capability would be on par with capability I had in 2003: burning a dual layer DVD of the Standard Def video I used to shoot.
Unless a satisfying reason comes out, it really seems they are letting down the demographic that supported them even through the dark times.
I hope you're not expecting to actually run an ODD on battery power alone. That drains power as surely as relying on discrete GPU. Same goes for decoding that motion pic.Also, I have plenty of those PIXAR Bluray disks, and other media titles I own and want to be able to play for my kids, while we're traveling. Satisfying these needs by "ripping" is also not feaible and a waste of the storage on the computer.