Your argument seems to be that the MacBook Pro needs to have a DVD drive because you have crap internet and clients don't always have good enough computers to play an H.264 file.
Neither of those are reasons to keep an old format around. A secure file area where you can give different people different levels of access, see a log of who's watched what, and revoke access is much more secure than putting a disc in the post. Also, you can still use DVD drives with Macs that don't have one.
Its not really anything like how you've just painted it.
In my industry, companies have great internet connections at their facilities, however security trumps anything else. With many Studios, Aspera transfer is deemed the only secure internet transfer allowed, because it is deemed highly secure by the US Department of Defence. That's fine when you have a client/business that you already have a connection setup and tested with, but not the case when dealing with a small business or need to get something to somebody quick.
If its small, then it can be burnt to a Disc and sent out the door straight away. However, it doesn't go in the post, it will be carried by a Runner or go on a courier bike if going further out.
Yes, you can use thumb drives and portable hard drives, but these aren't something that companies have hundreds of. Once sent out you have to wait for them to be returned. So if its small, a DVD makes far more sense because you don't need to wait for it to be returned.
As I said in my previous post, its not about whether a client's computer is good enough to play a h.264 file as you made out above, its about compatibility. If somebody senior like a Director or Producer wants a copy of some footage, then the best method is always a DVD. It can be played on just about anything, whether a laptop, a DVD player in a hotel room, a conference suite etc.
Sure chances are a file with a common codec will playback, but who wants to be the person who gives somebody important a file which doesn't playback because they don't have the codec etc?
The MacBook Pro's still exist with optical drives and ethernet ports, nobody has removed the optical drives from the MacBook Pro. The Retina display models don't have these legacy devices, but they never did. Nothing's been taken away. Yes you can probably read it as a sign of things to come, but essentially you're whinging that Apple haven't created your dream product, not that they've crippled an existing one.
All I've said over and over again now is why not also create a MacBook Pro that has retina display and all the ports, I don't care how big it is (its still going to be smaller than my old PowerBook G4). I would imagine most people who could even make use of a Retina display are likely to be business/creative users, as opposed to those who just use their machines for iTunes/Word Processing/E-Mail/Videos.
Yes, DVD drives and Ethernet are becoming less necessary for the home user, and potentially anyone who just uses their laptop for a bit of word processing and e-mail. However, I fail to see how some people in this thread can't see that ethernet more than anything, and DVD drives to a fair degree are what many in business still use, thus they are what you would expect on a 'Pro' machine.
