Music has been offered on CDs for a long time.. I thought CDs were digital?
The fact is that not all music, movies, or software is available for download (in fact, not enough) yet; so I think it's too soon to remove optical drives from computers.
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Why no optical drive in the new Mac Mini?
- Thread starter FlyingPie
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Music has been offered on CDs for a long time.. I thought CDs were digital?
The fact is that not all music, movies, or software is available for download (in fact, not enough) yet; so I think it's too soon to remove optical drives from computers.
By whom? As far as I know, all the major movie studios are producing blu-ray versions of their movies. Many PCs have blu-ray drives too. Blu-ray is a widely-supported format. It seems that Apple is actually the only company not on board with it at this point. Apple should get with the program.
And what is Thunderbolt? I've never heard of that.. If it's something that only Macs have, good luck getting hardware manufacturers to support it.
CDs are still digital. The issue is you can store my entire music collection in a deck of cards and have immediate access to any song without having to eject and find the CD. Same thing with applications and data. Blu-Ray disks would have helped if they were out much earlier. Blu-Ray disks remind me of the old Zip disks that came out a few years before the 3.5 disk died. USB Flash drives, portable hard drives, and CD/DVDs killed Zip disks.
I hope the iMac loses the DVD drive. Performance of having the drive sideways makes it too slow. Might as well support the external Superdrive and perhaps make it easy to swap the hard drive out easier when you are ready to upgrade it.
Apple doesn't support Blu-ray. this is an Apple product. if you wanted Blu-ray support, you would have had to buy another optical drive anyway.
look it up. it's an Intel technology and once someone comes out with a TB hub, it can connect to whatever data/video IO technology you want.
That's true. I still think it's good to have a backup of some sort though. A couple years ago, I ripped all of my music from my CDs to my hard drive so I have immediate access to it, but I like having the CDs as a backup. I suppose you could buy an external hard drive for a backup though. But one thing I worry about is that as the music industry transitions toward downloaded music, much of the music will be available in lossy formats such as MP3; I'd like to still have an option that preserves all of the audio data.
I can understand what you mean, but I'm not really seeing it happening with blu-ray discs.. Blu-ray movies are sold in virtually all stores that sell movies - I don't think the format will go away any time soon.
No, I don't feel like it is; at least from a hardware standpoint. I like OS X. I just wish Apple offered a computer configuration I was satisfied with.
That isn't a big selling point for Apple.. I don't mind buying a 3rd-party optical drive though. But if Apple doesn't support blu-ray, will you be able to play blu-ray movies even with a 3rd-party optical drive? In order to play blu-ray movies, you need to have hardware that supports PAVP (Protected Audio Video Path), and if Apple doesn't support blu-ray, I have to wonder if the Mac is capable of playing blu-ray movies.
Actually CD style media has been around since 1982 so it's pretty ancient by computer standards. Blu-Ray is optical medias' Swan Song.
Think about it, what do you use optical media for? Ripping CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays? Apple (and pretty much every studio) would prefer if you stream.
Actually, beyond making backups of my music collection a couple years go, I usually don't rip much. I sometimes watch a blu-ray or DVD on my computer, but I often use optical media for backups.
And streaming seems silly - If I want to watch a movie more than once, streaming it more than once seems like a waste of bandwidth, and if my internet connection ever goes out, then I'm out of luck. Also, with ISPs imposing usage caps, streaming large amounts of data isn't really a good option. I'd rather have my own copy.
This... its not about Blu-Ray, its about optical media. Zip disks didn't save "floppy style" drives, they were the swan song of removable magnetic storage.
TB is the external Thunderbolt connection.
To be honest I find your thread and your posts blowing the issue way out of proportion. Not to mention you keep on harking on about blue ray when Apple doesn't support that anyway so it's a moot point. If you want blue ray you would have to go external and of you want to play back blue ray movies install Windows on the Mini.
I for one couldn't care less that they took the optical drive out. I hardly ever use the one in my current 2009 Mini. The only time I use it is the rare occasion when I need to install software or transfer a music CD to iTunes. For that I have a SuperDrive for use with the new Mini.
It's obvious you're not happy with any of Apple's computer hardware offerings. If that's the case I suggest you get a PC. If need be you can always convert a PC into a Hackintosh computer.
Agree with your entire post, but someone not happy having to hook up a superdrive from time to time isn't going to do a Hackintosh!
Agree with your entire post, but someone not happy having to hook up a superdrive from time to time isn't going to do a Hackintosh!
That is true. I just thought I would give him the options he has available.
Personally I wish Apple would make models which are the same spec options as the iMac but without the display. This isn't because I don't like the glossy screen but because I neither have place for or need the included display. I use my HD TV with my Mac Mini. However you don't see me complaining about that. If I felt really strongly about that then I could always get a desktop PC but I have no desire to go back to using Windows full time after switching over to Mac six years ago.
Clearly there are those that feel that the optical drive is still needed. I personally don't feel that way. I much prefer that space to be available for a 2nd hard drive. I have a pretty darn good external drive already anyway because the optical drive on my 2009 Mac Mini was just so darn slow. I don't feel the removal of the optical drive was much of a loss.
In regards to Blu-ray I initially jumped on that bandwagon and quickly realized I was not willing to pay $15 or more for it. I have ripped a lot of movies that I have stored in my iTunes library. I generally only do this with movies I feel I will watch again. But there is no way I was ever going to be ripping stuff with that slow optical drive in the Mac Mini.
By the way check out RedBox and Blockbuster... they still have very small sections of Bluray movies as opposed to DVD's. Blu-ray has been a real disappointment thus far and the only way it will ever take over DVD's is for them to be priced within that same price point and they do away with DVD's all together, but movie studios won't do it because they are afraid they will lose too many sales.
By the way when you rip movies and store them in your iTunes library it doesn't use internet bandwidth, it simply streams it via your network. Streaming from iTunes store of course does use bandwidth.
In regards to Blu-ray I initially jumped on that bandwagon and quickly realized I was not willing to pay $15 or more for it. I have ripped a lot of movies that I have stored in my iTunes library. I generally only do this with movies I feel I will watch again. But there is no way I was ever going to be ripping stuff with that slow optical drive in the Mac Mini.
By the way check out RedBox and Blockbuster... they still have very small sections of Bluray movies as opposed to DVD's. Blu-ray has been a real disappointment thus far and the only way it will ever take over DVD's is for them to be priced within that same price point and they do away with DVD's all together, but movie studios won't do it because they are afraid they will lose too many sales.
By the way when you rip movies and store them in your iTunes library it doesn't use internet bandwidth, it simply streams it via your network. Streaming from iTunes store of course does use bandwidth.
It also doesn't help BR that it came onto the scene when the economy in developed countries was in the toilet. DVD came out toward the end of the tech boom when everyone was flush with cash. Also the advantages of DVD compared to VHS were much less subtle than the advantages of BR over DVD.
I can't remember the numbers exactly, but NTSC DVD has ~2.6 times the resolution of VHS and Blurays have 6 times the resolution of NTSC DVDs.
The bottom line is apple does not make arbitrary decisions. Last year when selecting a new mini I got the 2010 mini server because storage / speed was more important than the optical drive. (And I already have the external drive any way.) I have a feeling i'm not alone in my selection. Based on that Apple probably decided to just can the optical drive all together.
I can get my music, movies, drivers, and now even my software pretty much all online save for a few adobe products that I would never use any way. If I really want to watch a movie I'm going to use my Blu Ray player attached to the TV.
This suits the needs of probably 95% of the people out there. And if you are in the minority you are just SOL. Get used to it.
I can get my music, movies, drivers, and now even my software pretty much all online save for a few adobe products that I would never use any way. If I really want to watch a movie I'm going to use my Blu Ray player attached to the TV.
This suits the needs of probably 95% of the people out there. And if you are in the minority you are just SOL. Get used to it.
here's larry ellison (close friend of steve jobs) over a decade ago talking about how insane it is to ship digital bits on plastic discs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g_tcdR_pQU#t=1m49s
the writing is on the wall and like it or not, apple is leading the way. all digital content, whether it's software, music, movies, books, etc. will eventually not require physical media to be transported to the consumer/end-user. the itunes store, mac app store, ibooks, lion, and ios are all manifestations of this paradigm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g_tcdR_pQU#t=1m49s
the writing is on the wall and like it or not, apple is leading the way. all digital content, whether it's software, music, movies, books, etc. will eventually not require physical media to be transported to the consumer/end-user. the itunes store, mac app store, ibooks, lion, and ios are all manifestations of this paradigm.
The Blu Ray argument is getting really tired. For Apple to include Blu Ray drives in the mini it would have caused substantial price increases. Despite what proponents of Blu Ray like to think, the adoption of the technology is not particularly widespread.
Even DVD wasn't widely adopted until the cost of standalone players dropped below $100. It also didn't happen until VHS as no longer available in mass market retail stores. This is only now beginning with Blu Ray players, but DVD's are still readily available. Most consumers don't adopt new technology until their existing stuff is no longer supported.
That simply isn't going to happen with Blu Ray. 1080p downloads will be available for sale before DVD is phased out. Even the current 720p downloads available from iTunes are more than adequate for most consumers.
There have always been media consumers, audio & cinephiles who prefer substantially better quality--and the players on the mass market have never been adequate for those people. Blu Ray will continue to exist as a specialty product--which is exactly what it is. There is absolutely no reason to build it into the Mac. If you want it, get an external drive and use it. Don't expect me to add another $200 to the price of my machine just so you can have a specialty drive.
Even DVD wasn't widely adopted until the cost of standalone players dropped below $100. It also didn't happen until VHS as no longer available in mass market retail stores. This is only now beginning with Blu Ray players, but DVD's are still readily available. Most consumers don't adopt new technology until their existing stuff is no longer supported.
That simply isn't going to happen with Blu Ray. 1080p downloads will be available for sale before DVD is phased out. Even the current 720p downloads available from iTunes are more than adequate for most consumers.
There have always been media consumers, audio & cinephiles who prefer substantially better quality--and the players on the mass market have never been adequate for those people. Blu Ray will continue to exist as a specialty product--which is exactly what it is. There is absolutely no reason to build it into the Mac. If you want it, get an external drive and use it. Don't expect me to add another $200 to the price of my machine just so you can have a specialty drive.
I just watched a DVD movie on my 2009 Mac Mini HTPC.
In my country (Hong Kong), there is NO iTunes store :-mad:
The broadband internet connection here is 100Mbps, and I can easily download Mac OS X Lion in less than 10 mins, which seems to be a perfect place for Apple to implement its streaming dream.....
In my country (Hong Kong), there is NO iTunes store :-
mad:The broadband internet connection here is 100Mbps, and I can easily download Mac OS X Lion in less than 10 mins, which seems to be a perfect place for Apple to implement its streaming dream.....
I just watched a DVD movie on my 2009 Mac Mini HTPC.
In my country (Hong Kong), there is NO iTunes store :-
The broadband internet connection here is 100Mbps, and I can easily download Mac OS X Lion in less than 10 mins, which seems to be a perfect place for Apple to implement its streaming dream.....
Its a good thing apple lowered the price. making the addition of an external DVD drive more affordable
The superdrive for mac air will match nicely for 79 bucks if you need it. We just got the granddaughter a new mini yesterday for college(in line at local Apple Store for nearly 3 hours cause it was tax free day) and I asked her how many times she used the cd drive in her 2008 MacBook since she got it. The only times she remembered using it much was when she first got it and had some music cds to import to iTunes and to install some software. I used it to upgrade her to Snow Leopard. She now has a bad iTunes addiction that she uses for music and now the App Store has killed the need for software dvds. It seems like I remember hearing some of the same moaning and gnashing of teeth in 1998 when the iMac appeared without a floppy drive
my external floppy drive is a little slow, Apple should make a thunderbolt floppy drive.
The eSATA external DVD drive is a great idea, Thanks OP for that idea!!
The mac mini sucks because I want to play bluray, I can't do that now that the mini has no ODD.
The macbook is why to slow for web surfing and should be discontinued!
I have wanted a mac for 10 years but now that the mini has no bluray support I will never buy a mac.
The eSATA external DVD drive is a great idea, Thanks OP for that idea!!
The mac mini sucks because I want to play bluray, I can't do that now that the mini has no ODD.
The macbook is why to slow for web surfing and should be discontinued!
I have wanted a mac for 10 years but now that the mini has no bluray support I will never buy a mac.