This article is talking about SD cards (typcally used to store the pictures in digital cameras

SD *cards* are much MUCH smaller than SSD *drives*

Please elaborate on how “Backing data up to a cloud is not secure and you lose control over the information”? Give facts. Not opinion.

Yeah, SD cards will be competitive some day. When they’re so cheap we shoot our photos on them and leave them on. SD-ROM.

http://www.gnegg.ch/2009/05/no-more-hard-drives-for-me/

In the original days of memory, there was the expensive EPROM (erasable, programmable, read only memory), the moderately priced PROM (One-time programmable read only memory) and the cheaper ROM (factory programmable read only memory).

With Apple’s foresight and the above analogy to flash memory, I can easily see Apple defining a factory-programmed, multi-gigabyte, read-only SD device which could house Snow Leopard distribution (or Logic Studio). It would not have to be reprogrammed and would cost a tiny fraction of a flash SD card and be a permanent storage device for the bootable software.

It would be like making a “Gold SD” and, guaranteeing millions, would probably cost less than distribution on DVD’s.

The problem still exists, drives fail, optical, hard or solid state. They all fail, and you still need a method to back that information up. I agree that clouds can be used, but they just aren’t as secure as they should be. Now unless you want to encrypt your backups at compression time, then push them to the cloud, but its still attackable, still able to be hacked. Nothing is secure.
Hard copy digital media is the best resource until we find another viable solution. So DVD’s and CD’s will not go anywhere for some time, and if apple chooses to discontinue the opticial drive its another Microsoft Purchaser Ad going, well I need cds so I can’t get a mac. like we need that.

As a person who produces music, cds are still needed. There are still a lot of people who dont have iPods/MP3 Players etc, or a method of listening to music in their car… Other than the stock CD Deck.

Apple wont make that move, until the other manufacturers start porting over to different methods for delivery or use.

Optical storage cost less but like the albatross there is some
new learning needed to make revolutionary optical data storage
operational,,,,,but it will happen and SD is not the future of
storage for many reasons.

For the amount of data you’re talking about you really need BackBlaze…er…uh…(shameless plug)…I mean a back up hard drive. Backing data up to a cloud is not secure and you lose control over the information. If you really care about the data, especially in professional circumstances, you back up twice and place one in an off site location.

I no longer make backups on cd/dvd. I’ve been using USB sticks for quite awhile. Transitioning to a SD card would be seamless for me.

https://www.backblaze.com/internet-backup.html

Floppy Disks died out because their capacity was incredibly limited. And while SD drives have good capacity, CD’s and DVD’s are good for information we wish to save and NOT overwrite or modify. I am thinking mainly about music, movies and software programs.

Ripping music to your hard drive is a big part of what the iPod has always been about and getting rid of an internal drive makes a big assumption that everyone wants to only download their music now. Even Apple recommends backing up your music, and lots of people use CD’s…especially if they want to listen to the music in an environment where they won’t have or don’t want to use the iPod, like a car.

DVD’s are big business, blank DVD’s are still useful and if anything, Apple should support Blue-Ray. They are behind the curve on this. Apple users might not be hanging themselves from the rafters because their laptops don’t have Blue-Ray, but it would be a welcome addition that users would enjoy. And being able to burn Blue-Ray would be good for people who work in media and want to burn HD disks on a laptop from time to time. External drives are a MAJOR pain in the ass and effectively erase the benefit of having a laptop. As high definition replaces everything else, it’s going to be a pain not to have a DVD drive. Does Apple assume that the entire DVD industry will retool because they don’t have an optical drive anymore? As a consumer, I expect to be able to use standard technology of the day which is not obsolete with my Mac…and I’m sorry but DVD’s are not obsolete yet.

CD-ROM’s are also great for software. There are a lot of vendors who allow you to download software, but it’s not practical to download large software suites and quite frankly when I am spending $2,500 or more on a piece of software, I want to have a copy of it, and I don’t want to have to create that copy myself. For myself, this is the Adobe Creative Suite, which I use every day. But there is also MS Office, Final Cut Pro and its’ associated programs, etc. It’s good to have critical software on hand in the event that you need to restore something, and don’t have an internet connection available.

I am not really into gaming, but as far as I know, all computer gaming still relies on CD-ROM’s. I know that’s considered more of a PC thing.

Sure, this could all change tomorrow, but there are many industries that would have to retool how they provide their electronic data. Optical drives should not be tossed out until there are real replacements.

Apple clearly thinks of itself as a trendsetter and feels a responsibility to push technology forward by refusing to support that which is no longer useful. But before you do that, you need to make sure the technology you want to drop is not useful and that you’re not discontinuing it just so you can be perceived as cutting edge. That would not be a service to your customers.