Apple says no more discs, no more blu-ray

[Tom Sawyer]

Apple bans Blu-ray from Macs: Discs are 'holding us back'

 

 

Apple's not-like of Blu-ray is just one of the reasons why the very latest Apple computers ditch discs completely: Schiller says rotating discs "have inherent issues -- they're mechanical and sometimes break, they use power and are large. We can create products that are smaller, lighter and consume less power.

"These old technologies are holding us back," he adds. "They're anchors on where we want to go."

Aside from any technical issues Apple may have, ditching discs makes business sense for the fruit-flavoured Californian company. Apple doesn't make any money when you watch a film on a disc, but, because it sells movies as downloads in the iTunes Store, it does create an opportunity to make money when it drives you away from discs.

 

If you can't let go of your little spinning plastic plates for your filmic fix, you can get an external Blu-ray player, or look out for films that include an Ultraviolet version. Ultraviolet is a service that stores a digital copy of selected films you can buy on Blu-ray.

Purchase the disc and it comes with a code that allows you to stream or download the film to your phone, tablet, laptop or computer. In other words, you have the box for your collection, the disc for your telly, and the digital version for everywhere else.

Or you could, y'know, thumb your nose at Apple and buy a proper computer with a disc drive in it.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Tom Sawyer

[burgeranacoke]

Disc drives on computers are dead, or at least there days are numbered. It is like the floppy disc, just not much use for them any more. I would be surprised if the next computer you or I buy will have one. The only reason I use my current one (blu-ray) is to convert my current dvd library to mass storage. The last OS upgrade I did I used a usb stick. Games? It has been a long time since I bought a disc. Music? Why bother with a disc...

 

Optical is slow and storage is limited.

[USB Connector]

Canadian ISPs beg to differ. A blue ray can take 2-6gb of space, I watch DVDs and Blue Rays instead of television. If I were to stream or download my collection it would just wreck my bandwidth cap. I've never really been a fan of digital either. You have less rights with digital: you have a LICENSE for whatever it is you bought and in most cases there is a kill switch to disable that copy. You can't do that on a disc.

 

Until laws are put in place to defend consumers against DRM, I doubt digital is going anywhere just because Apple said so. Funny that Apple should say this is where things are trending when they have quite easily, the largest and most widely accessible selection of digital music, movies and television out there.

[Tom Sawyer]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

[Gompers]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Disc drives on computers are dead, or at least there days are numbered. It is like the floppy disc, just not much use for them any more. I would be surprised if the next computer you or I buy will have one. The only reason I use my current one (blu-ray) is to convert my current dvd library to mass storage. The last OS upgrade I did I used a usb stick. Games? It has been a long time since I bought a disc. Music? Why bother with a disc...

 

Optical is slow and storage is limited.

There's no way I'd ever buy a laptop without a disc drive. I mostly only watch DVDs on my laptop and I always burn CDs to iTunes.

 

What's the point of not including disc drives? I'd rather have one that I rarely use than not have one at all.

[Tom Sawyer]

Apple wants ALL your money, for anything you run on your computer... it's just that simple!!

[USB Connector]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

[Gompers]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

This is true. I think the current largest flash drive is 64G. Isn't it amazing how far this tech has come!

[Amy Farrah Fowler]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

I prefer a disc to use to give files to someone else...if it's too big to email. The likelihood of getting flashdrives back are, well let's be honest here...slim to none. Not going to keep buying flashdrives just to not get them back. And, for all of my photograph backups...oy. Would take away most of my profit to purchase enough.

[USB Connector]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

This is true. I think the current largest flash drive is 64G. Isn't it amazing how far this tech has come!

 

It is, but while solid state drives are much faster, have no moving parts and are immune to demagnetization, they're incredibly expensive and have not been out long enough. They are also alterable while you can't alter the information on a disc without making it unusable. This makes discs much more useful overall. It's a good idea, but discs have certain quality to them that makes them more useful than any other form of media for movies, TV shows and music.

Edited November 2, 2012 by USB Connector

[Gompers]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

This is true. I think the current largest flash drive is 64G. Isn't it amazing how far this tech has come!

 

It is, but while solid state drives are much faster, have no moving parts and are immune to demagnetization, they're incredibly expensive and have not been out long enough. They are also alterable while you can't alter the information on a disc without making it unusable. This makes discs much more useful overall. It's a good idea, but discs have certain quality to them that makes them more useful than any other form of media for movies, TV shows and music.

Give it time, those solid state drives will come way down in price, just like the HDD and flash drives did.

[USB Connector]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

This is true. I think the current largest flash drive is 64G. Isn't it amazing how far this tech has come!

 

It is, but while solid state drives are much faster, have no moving parts and are immune to demagnetization, they're incredibly expensive and have not been out long enough. They are also alterable while you can't alter the information on a disc without making it unusable. This makes discs much more useful overall. It's a good idea, but discs have certain quality to them that makes them more useful than any other form of media for movies, TV shows and music.

Give it time, those solid state drives will come way down in price, just like the HDD and flash drives did.

 

Flash drives are still nowhere near as cheap as DVDs. It costs $10-$20 for 4GB, less than a single DVD player. To top if off your media is not permenantly stored and can be erased, corrupted or altered on a whim. They're mainly plastic and diode so drives will never be as cheap as they are. One of the key factors in their use is that media files on a drive have a chance of deteriorating over time, especially if you like to move files between sources while DVDs ensure a constant quality thanks to the fact that they're one write. At best we'll move on to blue ray-R drives (which is gradually being implemented as the new standard in new PCs).

Edited November 2, 2012 by USB Connector

[Gompers]

So without a disc drive (removable media), how do you propose backing up info to an uncorruptable device?

 

Flashdrive. default/smile.png

 

You mean solid state. USB Flash drives can only get so large.

This is true. I think the current largest flash drive is 64G. Isn't it amazing how far this tech has come!

 

It is, but while solid state drives are much faster, have no moving parts and are immune to demagnetization, they're incredibly expensive and have not been out long enough. They are also alterable while you can't alter the information on a disc without making it unusable. This makes discs much more useful overall. It's a good idea, but discs have certain quality to them that makes them more useful than any other form of media for movies, TV shows and music.

Give it time, those solid state drives will come way down in price, just like the HDD and flash drives did.

 

Flash drives are still nowhere near as cheap as DVDs. It costs $10-$20 for 4GB, less than a single DVD player. To top if off your media is not permenantly stored and can be erased, corrupted or altered on a whim. They're mainly plastic and diode so drives will never be as cheap as they are. One of the key factors in their use is that media files on a drive have a chance of deteriorating over time, especially if you like to move files between sources while DVDs ensure a constant quality thanks to the fact that they're one write. At best we'll move on to blue ray-R drives (which is gradually being implemented as the new standard in new PCs).

I just picked up a 64G flash drive for $20. I have quite a few flashdrives and they all still work great.