Well Allan, its a lack of the realization of what things are, and that a super-thick Panasonic (which makes the superdrive) doesnt go with the superthin form factor of the Imac.
Having repaired many Superdrives, they are rather complex, several moving parts, loader, laser assy and screw-rail
Superdrive
Often is the case that the laser lens gets dirty, and no easy way to clean it since its a slot loader.
Fewer the parts, the more reliable, as such the Imac is better off logically without an internal Superdrive.
The sensible option is to remove the HIGH failure point from the Imac,..... being the Superdrive and make it external....so in case the superdrive has an issue, you dont need to service the entire Imac. This is logical, this is sensible, this is best for the consumer.
Since I probably burn more DVD blanks (data archives and distributions of same) than everyone in this thread collectively most likely, ....burning around 300 DVD a month with 3 replicators 1 x 8 towers I know the value of DVDs
I currently have 6000+ JVC Taiyo Yuden blanks awaiting future burning. đ
However most consumer and Prosumer DVD use is data archiving or commercial production for limited use (weddings, archival footage, archiving vital data).
People who dont realize that while DVDs are extremely vital for this limited market (as I mention 4 or 5 pages ago) , the 95% bulk of overall DVD use has gone online.
or as meant 80% of commercial Audio / Video / Software
Such a disconnect on the part of some to realize this fact is just a lack of research.
zBernie2
I suggest you read your own article, most of which is about BLURAY.... Apple never has had a bluray player/ burner....
as such your example is about someting that never was IN any Apple product ever made.
againt, do research.
The main use and currently only "developing" (expanding) market for single/dual layer DVD use is for data archiving important media
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for âfreezingâ and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]