Doesn't have to be Apple, you could use Amazon or whoever, my point is that Physical Media is basically dead... I don't like moving parts in my computer.
Hah, that's a funny definition of "physical media." Do you mean that, since you have an SSD in your computer, all your data exists in an ethereal "cloud" dimension that has transcended base matter? 'Cause I got news for you there...
In all seriousness, though, physical media isn't going anywhere yet - as pointed out, DVDs are still the format of choice for movie purchases, and while I think HDTV is a scam myself, it's not like Blu-Rays aren't selling. CDs continue to find shelf space in every store (even outside the general-merchandise retailers) no matter how much RIAA bawls about piracy.
The simple fact is that disc media has too many advantages to ignore. Optical discs don't match the storage density of Flash drives, but they're
much cheaper to manufacture, and in home-video quantities that makes a huge difference. Hard disks may be slower and have to deal with moving parts (though honestly the danger there is vastly overrated, we're a long ways from the days of constant possibility of head-crash,) but SSDs can't touch 'em in price-per-megabyte.
I think Apple was right; optical storage is, absolutely, finished. I haven't touched anything on an optical disc in at least three years, and my now 6-month old iMac's DVD drive has never been used nor will it ever be used. All the software, movies (in 1080p), TV shows and music I own were downloaded and are stored on an external drive.
Yeah, and I have a buttload of stuff on my hard drive, too, but I can't go to the thrift store and buy a used download. That's really the point behind the attempts to move away from physical media, they want to kill secondhand sales.
