New Mac Mini, MacBook Lose DVD Drive (ContributorNetwork ...

Picture this: It’s the late 90′s. Steve Jobs has just come back to Apple, after more than a decade of absence. What’s the first new product he releases? An “iMac” shaped like a pink gumdrop. And it doesn’t have a floppy disk drive, <a href="http://www.headphonesell.com/"><strong>dr dre headphones</strong></a> or a serial port, or a parallel port, or any of those other things. Just these newfangled CD-ROM drives and USB ports.“That’s crazy!” people said. “How will they use their printers or install programs!” And yet soon, every computer was like that.Until nowThe new MacBook Air and Mac Mini models are out. And guess what? They don’t have DVD drives, and they’re beginning to scrap USB ports in favor of “Thunderbolt,” a new high-speed port like Firewire. They still have USB — the Mac Mini also has an SD card reader — but the DVD-ROM drive has been removed from the Mac Mini. And the MacBook, Apple’s previous budget laptop with a DVD drive, has been thrown out in favor of the MacBook Air, which has always been DVD-less.Now, the lack of a DVD drive presents some obvious problems. How are you going to install software, for one? And what about burning discs for your friends, or to make backups from iTunes? You might even need to rip a CD that you get as a holiday present.But on the other hand …Think about what you give up in order to get that. The <a href="http://www.headphonesell.com/products_new.html"><strong>monster beats dr dre</strong></a> old Mac Mini with DVD drive cost 700; the new one costs only 600, plus it’s more powerful. Is a DVD drive worth that much?Also, consider the fact that in today’s world, you rarely need to install software from a DVD anymore. Especially for a Mac. Boxed Windows PC software and games still take up whole shelves at the stores, but many Mac owners have already gotten used to buying online, or even at the Mac App Store. And if you’re not one of them, there’s no need to rush. Your old Mac’s still doing fine, isn’t it?I personally got used to using online app markets when I switched to Ubuntu. The Software Centre was like <a href="http://www.headphonesell.com/monster-miles-davis-tribute-high-performance-inear-speakers-p-238.html"><strong>monster in-ear headphones</strong></a> the App Store before there was an App Store. It was so convenient that I could just get all the apps that I wanted by clicking a button, instead of having to go out and buy something. I’m glad to see Apple catching up, and even surpassing Ubuntu in terms of ease and usefulness.Think of it this wayRemember when the Game Boy needed those tiny little cartridges for each game? Now even Nintendo’s consoles have an app market, in addition to game cards. And the iPhone and iPod Touch get all their games and apps online.That’s the way that computers are going too, and as usual, Apple is leading the way. Now if only Apple would stop trying to <a href="http://www.acoxygen.com/onews.asp?id=97"><strong>Motherboard dying | General Hardware</strong></a> sue the pants off of everyone else and outlaw its competition, the tech world would be an even better place.Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.