Q: No DVD drive in new iMac ???

That's good.  I had assumed so but wondered about the (many) posts justifying this move by Apple by disputing the problems people have posted and/or suggesting work-arounds that do not work. 

Anyway, I hope Apple re-thinks this move and at least offers a model of iMac with a built-in optical drive.  Those of us who use Macs for our businesses do not necessarily have the same needs as high school students, gamers and university professors.

I get the reason why Apple has gotten rid of Superdrives on their machines. Their disadvantages are obvious. Spend some time on the Apple Support Communities, and you'll see discussions on failed drives, repair costs, the computer industry's decreased dependence on CDs and DVDs.

That said, I'm in no hurry to migrate from my 2009 iMac and MBP, with their integrated Superdrive.

Ah yes, an unbootable accessory drive.  The lack of an optical drive is turning out to be the tip of the iceberg...  What am I going to do with all (3 of them) of my Firewire 800 external drives?  I was reading that the adapter doesn't work well in regard to throughput speeds.  When I bought my current Macs, Apple told me Firewire 800 was the future of interfaces.  I guess they changed their minds on that too...

Hemlaw wrote:

 

Anyway, I hope Apple re-thinks this move and at least offers a model of iMac with a built-in optical drive.

They may, but I seriously doubt it.

I'm a college professor.  I NEED an optical drive!

psnikon wrote:

 

Ah yes, an unbootable accessory drive.

iMacs will boot from the external drive, you should fix your problem, it is not endemic

  The lack of an optical drive is turning out to be the tip of the iceberg...  What am I going to do with all (3 of them) of my Firewire 800 external drives?  I was reading that the adapter doesn't work well in regard to throughput speeds.  When I bought my current Macs, Apple told me Firewire 800 was the future of interfaces.  I guess they changed their minds on that too...

FW800 is still around and still faster than USB2, but every other interface is either faster, cheaper. and in most cases both.

Apple does not control the market, USB was much cheaper than FW and as a consequence most people went for cheap rather than good. So the market got smaller.

USB3 is far cheaper than FW, and 6 times faster.

psnikon wrote:

 

I'm a college professor.  I NEED an optical drive!

$50 and 5 minutes is all that takes.

psnikon wrote:

What am I going to do with all (3 of them) of my Firewire 800 external drives?  I was reading that the adapter doesn't work well in regard to throughput speeds.

I don't know where you read what, but my Apple Thunderbolt to FW 800 adaptor works fine & supports the same transfer speeds as a 'native' built-in FW port would.

I think you'll agree that Thunderbolt is the Firewire 800 of the current era.  I remember being told how great Firewire 800 was and having to wait for the drives to start showing up.  Now that I have them, SURPRISE!  No more support.  How many other manufacturers do you see with Thunderbolt devices?  It's just Apple and companies making periferals for Apple.  My first Mac was futuristic; it had SCSI!  Find a SCSI drive today?  Nope.  None of my first few Macs had USB or Firewire.  They relied on SCSI.  You might remember that SCSI was faster than USB v.1.  That didn't save it.  Firewire 800 was great.  You can still find drives in the stores in this format...  I forsee people having this same discussion in a few years when Apple unveils its next failure.

I promise I didn't make this up.  I read this on one of the other discussions regarding the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter.  I hate surprises when I'm spending thousands of dollars on equipment that doesn't work for me.

poikkeus1 

Spend some time on the Apple Support Communities, and you'll see discussions on failed drives, repair costs, the computer industry's decreased dependence on CDs and DVDs.

There is the crux of the issue, IMO.  I don't care if the computer industry has "decreased dependence" on optical media.  My employees don't care if the computer industry has "decreased dependence" on optical media.  My customers if the computer industry has "decreased dependence" on optical media. 

Furthermore third party software suppliers who give me products I need (like DW, for instance) obviously contined to use optical media.

Detatched geeks who live in a bubble have run Apple into the ground before.  Are they doing it again?

psnikon 

I'm a college professor.  I NEED an optical drive!

No, you don't.  You only think you need an optical drive.  Just listen to the "experts" here, they will tell you what you need and don't need.

apple didn't need to make the imac with the optical drive so hard to get to. they figured it out once with the pismo. they can figure it out again.

psnikon wrote:

 

I promise I didn't make this up.

Please supply a link.

Hemlaw wrote:

 

My employees don't care if the computer industry has "decreased dependence" on optical media.  My customers if the computer industry has "decreased dependence" on optical media.

Two choices then, buy an external drive, don't buy a new Mac

Which will it be?

Did you read this before you posted?  Apple doesn't control the market?  Who thunk up Thunderbolt?  Firewire 800?  Apple.  Thats who.