illustration by Jordan Baker Photography
Back in 1998, people thought that the folks at Apple were mad for shipping the new “iMac G3” without a floppy drive. A few years later, floppies were obsolete.
Enter the [2008] macbook air. Arriving a decade after the ’98 iMac G3, the macbook air shipped without an optical drive. In addition to the macbook air, Apple has just introduced the new 15″ Macbook Pro [with retina display]. Again, no optical drive.
Last year Netflix announced a split of their company, between optical DVDs and online streaming. Web based product possibility alone is a topic that I could write an entire post on, but I’ll stick to the title today.
Will optical discs such as CDs and DVDs meet their fate just like the floppy? Absolutely! The real question is “when”?
For now, I think it’s worth examining the pros and the cons of both when deciding on how to provide newlyweds their images.
DVD
CONS
-scratches aren’t nice
-sometimes not compatible
-a fading technology
-reads slower
USB
PROS
-reads faster
-more storage
-always compatible
-would speed up my workflow
CONS
-slightly more expensive [though not for long]
-chance of being erased accidentally
-easier to lose [smaller]
-no more wooden DVD case
Though I do believe that at some point the optical disc will be dead, I’m truly having a hard time making the decision to switch to USB/beyond. If you’re reading this and happen to come up with more pros/cons for either, feel free to leave a comment on this post.