No Optical Drives - it's wrong!

Interesting article from the BBC this morning, digital sales are up (includes games, music and film etc) making up a quarter of the entertainment market:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20885506

Sales of physical media also fell in the same period. This goes a long way to justify Apple's decision to drop optical drives. It will be interesting to see how the market ends up at the end of this year.
 
shine said:
Interesting article from the BBC this morning, digital sales are up (includes games, music and film etc) making up a quarter of the entertainment market:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20885506

Sales of physical media also fell in the same period. This goes a long way to justify Apple's decision to drop optical drives. It will be interesting to see how the market ends up at the end of this year.
Click to expand...

Errr if anything that shows that Apple are doing the WRONG thing. Download hasn't even got anywhere near 50% yet!

I'm not saying removing the drive in certain models is a bad thing but Apple are doing it on all models (MacRumors suggests MacBooks with optical drives will be a thing of the past too) is just arrogant. And it also happens to push you right into the iTunes ecosystem.
 
Fillado said:
Errr if anything that shows that Apple are doing the WRONG thing. Download hasn't even got anywhere near 50% yet!

I'm not saying removing the drive in certain models is a bad thing but Apple are doing it on all models (MacRumors suggests MacBooks with optical drives will be a thing of the past too) is just arrogant. And it also happens to push you right into the iTunes ecosystem.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that someone has to be first when it comes to nudging technology in a new direction. It's usually Apple who do that.
 
Fillado said:
Errr if anything that shows that Apple are doing the WRONG thing. Download hasn't even got anywhere near 50% yet!
Click to expand...

For Apple it is the correct decision. By removing the optical drive they push people towards digital distribution. As iTunes is built into the platform they'll hope people use their platform for music and video.

mrbell1984 said:
What a load of tosh. It's 2013 now and the only thing people might require to use disks for is backups & bluerays.

/end
Click to expand...

Which is a valid reason to include the optical drive for those that need it. Oh and you forgot DVD and CD's which still makes up the majority of the sales for entertainment purposes. However, I accept that not everyone uses their computer for entertainment purposes (which is again a reason for including optical drives as an option).
 
Which is a valid reason to include the optical drive for those that need it. Oh and you forgot DVD and CD's which still makes up the majority of the sales for entertainment purposes. However, I accept that not everyone uses their computer for entertainment purposes (which is again a reason for including optical drives as an option).
Click to expand...

You can include an optical drive, it'll just be an external one.
 
mrochester said:
Don't forget that someone has to be first when it comes to nudging technology in a new direction. It's usually Apple who do that.
Click to expand...

True. But it so happens that this "nudge" lands you squarely into iTunes. Which oddly enough is itself becoming less relevent as iPod sales fall and Android sales continue to outpace iOS. In other words more people are now using a non-Apple device to play music. So don't need iTunes.

mrbell1984 said:
What a load of tosh. It's 2013 now and the only thing people might require to use disks for is backups & bluerays.

/end
Click to expand...

It's funny how you think stating something makes it fact. Music downloads only managed to outsell physical sales at the start of 2012. From that BBC article only £98m has been made from digital video. Real books still outsell Kindle books. Physical media is far from dead. Plus it's still far superior quality to download.

Instead of Apple giving you options (which don't include the hilarity of £65 for an external DVD burner) they are instead just mustering you in one direction: More Apple lock-in. You can compare it to their decision to go USB only or Optical Drive only all you like but the comparison isn't the same.



FYI I own a Windows laptop, iPhone 5 and Kindle. But I buy music on CD and 7Digital, did start doing HD video on iTunes but (thanks to their uselessness with optimizing for Windows) now Blu-Ray and books through Kindle. Like pretty much everyone one size doesn't fit all.
 
True. But it so happens that this "nudge" lands you squarely into iTunes. Which oddly enough is itself becoming less relevent as iPod sales fall and Android sales continue to outpace iOS. In other words more people are now using a non-Apple device to play music. So don't need iTunes.
Click to expand...

You don't need to own any Apple devices to purchase content from iTunes.

Instead of Apple giving you options (which don't include the hilarity of £65 for an external DVD burner) they are instead just mustering you in one direction: More Apple lock-in. You can compare it to their decision to go USB only or Optical Drive only all you like but the comparison isn't the same.
Click to expand...

There are any number of external optical drives on the market for you to choose from.
 
Last edited:
mrochester said:
You can include an optical drive, it'll just be an external one.
Click to expand...

You can but I'd argue if you need an optical drive then its annoying to carry something extra. Thinking of the iMac - it's no longer an all in one machine if you need an optical drive. There are good argument for and against, for me personally I'd prefer the option to have it built into the computer.
 
shine said:
You can but I'd argue if you need an optical drive then its annoying to carry something extra. Thinking of the iMac - it's no longer an all in one machine if you need an optical drive. There are good argument for and against, for me personally I'd prefer the option to have it built into the computer.
Click to expand...

I guess you must be in the minority as far as Apple are concerned then :)
 
mrochester said:
I guess you must be in the minority as far as Apple are concerned then :)
Click to expand...

I don't think Apple work that way - they've decided to remove optical drives and expect their customer base to follow their new model. Those that are happy to drop optical drives have no issues, those that upgrade every year have the option of the external drive. People like me who upgrade every three or four years will either accept Apple's move or go elsewhere. Considering the consumer seems to be the focus of Apple these days they probably don't consider pro users as important anymore.

It's not a case of being a minority but not being important to Apple's future.
 
Last edited:
Having an 'option' to add/remove is better than having it stuck in a machine. It's cleaner for a start especially for businesses who order in big bulk!

If I was to watch blue-ray I would use it on a big TV not my PC. I can understand that everyone has different needs but IMO it's better to have optional devices.
 
mrochester said:
Well why not use that then?
Click to expand...

I do :confused: I was saying why buy a Mac and an HDTV and a Blu-Ray Player when you could just get a Windows laptop with Blu-Ray and an HDMI port.

mrbell1984 said:
Having an 'option' to add/remove is better than having it stuck in a machine. It's cleaner for a start especially for businesses who order in big bulk!

If I was to watch blue-ray I would use it on a big TV not my PC. I can understand that everyone has different needs but IMO it's better to have optional devices.
Click to expand...

You can use your top statement to pretty much slate almost everything Mac.

Why have the PC & Monitor in one (iMac) when you can have both seperate, for less, and upgrade each independently.

Why are they only removing optical drives in MacBooks when upgrading to retina? Maybe I want the power of a current MacBook Retina but with a normal (or at most 1080p) screen?

The problem is simply choice. And Apple's lack of giving it to you. But they've been going down this road for a while now. I think they've realised that the Mac is a niche where people just blindly buy and follow whatever Apple dictate. So they can use it to increase company margins while decreasing them on iOS devices.
 
I do I was saying why buy a Mac and an HDTV and a Blu-Ray Player when you could just get a Windows laptop with Blu-Ray and an HDMI port.
Click to expand...

Because you might not like Windows, or any of the available Windows laptops, or software you want to use isn't available on Windows, or features you consider a higher priority aren't available on Windows laptops, or you don't want to be connecting and disconnecting your blu-ray setup all the time etc etc etc?

The problem is simply choice. And Apple's lack of giving it to you. But they've been going down this road for a while now. I think they've realised that the Mac is a niche where people just blindly buy and follow whatever Apple dictate. So they can use it to increase company margins while decreasing them on iOS devices.
Click to expand...

Apple do give you a choice; there a hundreds, if not thousands of Windows computers, AIOs, laptops and netbooks to choose from if a Mac doesn't meet your needs. People choose Macs because they want what they have to offer. Apple aren't holding a gun to your head and making you buy a Mac!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom