BTW - I have download speeds of 42Mbs and Protools still took an hour to download off of their site. Normal people don't have 42Mbps download speed. I imagine it would take hours to download and install, instead of 30 minutes from the disc. It's just more convenient.
Your comparison is incomplete.
First - Installation itself is not slower from HDD compared to optical media - at worst its the same speed, though probably it's faster, because optical media read speed is slower than that of a HDD.
Actually getting the installation data is a different story. If you decide right now to acquire new software, with optical installation media you would either have to drive to your next software store (if there is one near you offering the required software) and come back - hopefully it did not run out of stock while you were driving there! Depending on the package size you have to download, you may be faster or slower with physical media.
If you purchase via mail-order, you'll probably be faster with downloads in 95% of all cases as you can purchase and download immediately (over night if necessary), while the mail probably won't be at your doorstep before next day. For me that is much more convenient than having to wait for the mailman! Admitted - that assumes you have at least some kind of broadband access and are not limited to a 56kBps modem...
A backup should be made irrespective of the media the software is originally stored on. With downloaded software it could even be easier to make that backup (ideally automatically e.g. via TimeMachine), as physical media can be copy-protected.
Finally - the documentation. I do agree that it seems nicer to have the documentation in printed form, especially while you are new to a software. However - once you are used to a software you probably will start to increasingly use the inbuilt online-help over the printed manual (for syntax details etc). Even more so, if the printed documentation slowly becomes outdated due to software updates etc.
Therefore i expect that printed documentation will soon generally become a convenience addon you have to pay for separately. Just think of the trend towards eBook readers and tablets, which are ideally for storing huge texts, even offering powerful search functions etc.
Companies already try to save on printed documentation, as that is an enormous cost factor - especially for an international company that has to support a multitude of languages, so it has to supply a variety of languages with its products to cover at least the main markets. This is done much easier (and cheaper) if done in digital form only.
Not to mention the shortened development cycles nowadays: Printed documentation packaged with physical media is prone to become outdated while being stored - digital documentation can easily be updated during installation.
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Better waiting for retina display ... it will come next year.
... or even this year!

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I think retina display is too expensive for now, and needs too gpu power.
That's what people said about a retina display in the iPad...
