Adios, DVDs

Remember cassette tapes? Or ‘Walkmans’? They were great inventions and served us well. But no more. When was the last time you’ve seen a Walkman? I think I still have one back at my parent’s house up in the attic. And I know there’s a copy of the Top Gun soundtrack cassette tape nearby. That, I’m sure.

Sony Walkman
"Say man, can I snag that Tears for Fears tape for a few hours?"

But as we fondly remember the cassette tape era, could it be that DVDs are the next in line to be a distant memory? For those of you with the massive DVD rack you bought from the SkyMall catalog loaded with your favorite DVD movies and music CDs, brace yourselves. I think the end is near. Start offloading them.

My girlfriend sent me an article from 9to5Mac.com that really shouted something about laptops, specifically MacBook Pros, “what’s the need for a combo-drive anymore?”.

Basically, there’s news that Apple is soon to launch a new MacBook Pro. And it WON’T have a combo drive. There’s no need. They have the app store. I couldn’t believe it.

But then I quickly could believe it. When was the last time you stuck a DVD or CD into your laptop? Really. It hasn’t happened much, I bet. So in order to make the sleekest, hippest, and most technological laptop, they wanna burn the drive. Here’s a blurb:

As the MacBook Air pioneered, and the latest Mac mini models have followed, the new 15-inch MacBook Pro loses the optical drive in order to reach Apple’s new standard for notebook thinness. Apple has made it clear that professionals could lose the optical drive in favor of the wildly popular Mac App Store for software installations. Take Final Cut Pro X or Aperture for example. For those few who still need an optical drive, Apple has been selling a USB Superdrive since the first-generation MacBook Air launched.

New MacBook Pro 2012
Mockup of new MacBook Pro without a Combo Drive.

Sure, this new MacBook Pro will have a ton of new features. It’ll be much faster (USB3, Thunderbolt?) and a Retina Display for crisp graphics, but that’s for another blog post.

So just as every other trend has come and gone, I fear that DVDs and CDs are about to enter the fold. You can trust Apple has a pretty good eye on ‘what’s next’.

Speaking of which…I feel that Apple will get into the ‘television’ game very soon if not within the year. Others agree. Imagine Apple creating an interactive TV. That will be sweet. And everyone will want one. And have no fear, it’ll most likely come with several inputs so you can keep that Pioneer DVD player you have and the SkyWall of DVDs you own. There may even me an audio jack to connect that sweet Walkman of yours. Crank up Enya to 11!

Geez.

Subscribe to receive inspiration, news, and ideas in your inbox.

About the author

Josh Benson

Add comment

Josh Benson

Subscribe

Let’s Connect!

Categories