Why did people stop liking optical drives in their desktops?

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

12 hours ago, Popo576 said:

Like I get laptops to like be thinner and lighter but why desktops? I use my optical fairly regularly for things like movies and music

Making laptops any thinner kind of made them suck, they went for crappy keyboards with no travel distance, started gluing in batteries, removing useful connectivity features, etc. We hit the sweet spot somewhere around 2014 - 2015 and should have stopped there.

 

Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand. We used optical drives because that was the best option at the time. From the early 2000s until about 2010 floppies weren't big enough to transfer the files we needed, and USB and flash memory was still incredibly expensive. Optical drives were nice, because they shared a lot of parts with CD/DVD drives for the audio and video market, making them somewhat affordable compared to ZIP drives and the likes. The moment flash finally became cheap enough we ditched that shit asap, because they were unreliable, noisy, used a large amount of power (for laptops), had long read and write times, had various competing standards that weren't necessarily compatible with each drive, etc. Additionally, even CD-RWs (or should I say CD+RW or CD-RW+ or ...) had a very limited number of actual writes in them, and a fault would sometimes wipe the entire disk. Blu-ray and HD-DVD both offered huge capacities at the time while there was little to no demand for such storage mediums, and were relatively expensive and at the same time USB flash drives were starting to become economical, so it's not that surprising that we went down that route I think.

 

Also, the experience differs a lot these days, the modern drives being made in 2023 are often of quite high quality compared to the ones we had 15 - 20 years ago, they have nice big buffers, can handle spikes/brown-outs on the supplies, have nicely stabilized spindles, etc. So the experience using a CD or DVD now is vastly superior to the early 2000s. I haven't had a badly burned CD in years, and I recently burned about 40 of them for someone's PhD book. Just the idea of trying that with hardware from twenty year ago sends shivers down my spine.  

[OhYou_]

as computer hardware gets replaced with newer faster tech, the old falls out of mainstream use and into the external area. 
Theres logically nothing wrong with using external hardware with a pc instead of built in because it solves the problem without forcing legacy hardware on those that dont need it.
Same thing happens with everything, floppy drives, card readers, usb A ports, headphone jacks, ect. 

[Real_PhillBert]

I recently bought an external optical drive just to rip another box of DVDs that I found in the basement to my Plex server. 

 

I would not build another PC with an internal optical drive, for me, the external that I break out in the very rare occasion that I need one fits the bill just fine. 

 

Plus the new PC I build doesn't even have a place for an optical drive anymore. 

[Erioch]

I haven't bought anything that uses one in a very long time.  Games are all digital downloads.  Music is the same.  I don't play movies on my PC (and I haven't used my DVD player for my TV in probably 10 years).

[IRMacGuyver]

The only people that stopped liking optical drives are pirates that download all their movies.

[tanman9990]

The optical disc drive began it's death spiral when people realized a music file compression format made it easy to share music on the internet. When people started sharing music files over the internet in the 2000's, it killed the compact disc album sales within the decade.

 

When broadband speeds hit the tens of megabits in the 2010's, Netflix separated it's DVD rental service from it's streaming service, putting another nail in DVD's coffin. At that point, it was simply more convenient to stream than to rent dvd's, because even your 1 mbps DSL could handle streaming movies to your house instantaneously. This was during the time of the Seventh generation of console gaming, where internet-connectivity for console gaming caught on. That is when games started to be distributed exclusively via digital download.

 

Blue-rays never really caught on outside of a handful of enthusiasts, although it did have some limited popularity in the late 2000's. Blue-ray was pretty much dead by 2013.

 

TL:DR: Megabit Broadband Internet made optical discs too inconvenient in comparison.

[Erioch]

I have a ton of blank CDs,  DVDs and Blurays if anyone wants them...

[Totallycasual]

On the PC front, it's pretty hard to find a PC game on disc these days that isn't just a box with a download code inside.  On the console front, i'll never let go of physical media

[CatHerder]

Convenience, like with most things.

For day-to-day portable data needs, USB Flash sticks are more portable due to their size.

For watching movies or playing video games, switching discs around can be a hassle when compared to just pushing buttons on your remote controller. Also you can't physically lose or damage your Netflix movies/Steam games etc. You can in theory lose access to them, but for most people daily little inconveniences weigh more than theoretical ownership issues.

[Bombastinator]

13 hours ago, Totallycasual said:

On the PC front, it's pretty hard to find a PC game on disc these days that isn't just a box with a download code inside.  On the console front, i'll never let go of physical media

I wouldn’t either.  It’s arguably much more important there.

[RollyShed]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:59 AM, Assimov said:

Why are people not using Punch Cards with their Computer anymore ? what is up with that ?

I agree as they were perfect for writing shopping lists on as long as they didn't have too much programming on them. On the other hand, punched paper tape was a bit useless.

[Bombastinator]

34 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

I agree as they were perfect for writing shopping lists on as long as they didn't have too much programming on them. On the other hand, punched paper tape was a bit useless.

Until you tripped and they went everywhere.  Rubber bands were important.

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:36 AM, Erioch said:

I have a ton of blank CDs,  DVDs and Blurays if anyone wants them...

No, last summer I was at a flea market and I tried to get rid of large cardboard boxes of CD-Rs (think somewhere around 50 / box) for €1 each, because we weren't allowed to give away stuff for free. No one wanted them, heck the thrift stores don't want to take them, even with the boxes still sealed. I did manage to sell a big pile of floppies.

[Dedayog]

On 3/6/2023 at 12:46 AM, Popo576 said:

I hate the concept of streaming. I like to have EVERYTHING physical or dumped on hdds. also M-Disks are SUPER reliable, and resistant to data rot and harsh conditions. of course you can put your entire library on a USB drive, but I work in IT and there are several occasions I had to put things on optical because they wanted it. DVDs are dirt cheap, and you can use them as a frisbee, bury them, use sandpaper on them and a resurface can make it still usable, now if you use a hard drive as a frisbee, your gonna get a head crash

This is a good idea conceptually, but it really boils down to simple hoarding.  "Well, I might use it (or watch) it again someday" is a hoarding mantra.

 

Why keep a DVD of Goonies from 1985 when you can watch a HD version somewhere.  In the current state of "always available", it really does make sense to minimize storage and clutter.

 

Honestly, buying DVDs to watch a movie just feels weird now.  I'm a HUGE rewatcher.  HUGE.  Even I can't see keeping physical items just to be able to watch over and over. 

 

Just accumulating things wears on physical space we move and live in, which definitely affects us physiologically as well.

[ToboRobot]

When games and movies/tv switch from optical distribution to digital streaming and download options.

Steam and Netflix (streaming) killed optical for consumers.

[Holmes108]

17 hours ago, Totallycasual said:

On the PC front, it's pretty hard to find a PC game on disc these days that isn't just a box with a download code inside.  On the console front, i'll never let go of physical media

 

Unfortunately even there, it's becoming more and more common that even if you have the physical disc, you're not going to be able to play that game (potentially) 10, 20 years down the line if the servers aren't there. 

 

I happily went all digital. Started during 360, and went 100% with the Xbox one. So I'm okay with it, and know what i'm getting into. But I feel bad for people like my mother. She's a big gamer, and while She'll play current games, she's also just as likely to go back and play things like FF3 on SNES, etc... 

 

In fact, the Xbox Series S would be the absolute perfect system for her, (she doesn't give a damn about graphics or FPS) if it wasn't for the damn optical drive. 

[PROGamer_199]

Disc media is both good and bad. For kinda long term storage, in perfect condition it will hold data for 20+ years, but it's write once, read many times. I only use disc media only when forced to since after use it becomes basically e-waste (you can't re-write a blue ray that many times before it becomes unusable or data rottens too fast)

[Totallycasual]

4 hours ago, Holmes108 said:

I happily went all digital.

 

My issue with going all digital is that (I'll use my PS5 as an example) games are 20% more expensive on Sony's digital storefront, every single PS5 game i have purchased since owning the console has been at least 20% cheaper to buy from a local retailer over buying the digital version, not to mention the fact that i can sell them when I'm done.  Also, i live entirely off the grid so my console only gets internet access for day one patches and such, then it goes months without connecting.  The day that digital only and constant internet connections become compulsory, will be the day i quit gaming or cling to the last gen console that still has a drive lol 

[Zando_]

No one really uses them, thus no need for em. 

I didn't put an ODD in my rigs for years, wasn't till I wanted to rip CDs or watch Blu-Rays that I started putting them in. Blu-Ray because I wanted to watch Princess Mononoke and nowhere had it easily streamable, so I just bought it on disc. CDs because I like to muck around with iPod Classics and I wanted to rip FLACs, some albums I own digitally because I could get them as FLAC or WAV, most I own on actual discs because they look cool + I can rip them to whatever format I want for whatever device I'm putting them on (usually FLAC, iTunes will rip to ALAC). 

[Holmes108]

10 minutes ago, Totallycasual said:

 

My issue with going all digital is that (I'll use my PS5 as an example) games are 20% more expensive on Sony's digital storefront, every single PS5 game i have purchased since owning the console has been at least 20% cheaper to buy from a local retailer over buying the digital version, not to mention the fact that i can sell them when I'm done.  Also, i live entirely off the grid so my console only gets internet access for day one patches and such, then it goes months without connecting.  The day that digital only and constant internet connections become compulsory, will be the day i quit gaming or cling to the last gen console that still has a drive lol 

 

I found that pricing was more of a problem at the beginning of the digital only era... physical could be drastically cheaper. I still opted for digital because I'm a lazy ass and appreciated the convenience.

 

But these days, I find no lack of digital sales and my Xbox backlog rivals my steam backlog lol. I never buy a game at full price either. $20 and less most of the time. I'll go to $30-40 if I really love a series.

[Totallycasual]

2 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

I still opted for digital because I'm a lazy ass and appreciated the convenience.

 

I don't think i could ever be so lazy that i'd rather pay an extra $20 per game just so i don't have to get off the sofa to switch games once a week

[Holmes108]

11 minutes ago, Totallycasual said:

 

I don't think i could ever be so lazy that i'd rather pay an extra $20 per game just so i don't have to get off the sofa to switch games once a week

 

lol. I'm a big time game switcher. I like bouncing between lots of light casual games, and many of these games simply wouldn't get played at all if I couldn't. In fact, I'm also "that guy" that has 7TB attached to my console so I can have all my games installed at once for the same reason lol. 

 

I obviously don't play all 400+ games that I own at any given time, but I want access to them all. Now. lol. I know I'm extra, but it's how I like my game setup.

 

If I have 20 minutes to kill, maybe I'll randomly want to load up Trials HD or something (random example) for that once a year session. But if I uninstall it, I know I'm never touching that game again.

[Totallycasual]

5 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

but it's how I like my game setup

 

None of this really stops you from owning a disc version of the PS5 over the digital one, i own the disc version while also having several games that were purchased on the digital storefront.  I often see people arguing from a standpoint as if me owning the disc version somehow prohibits me from owning digital games, the only difference between me with my full size PS5 and someone with the digital only one, is that they're forced to pay the PSN prices and i can shop around, i can stop at Gamestop and dig through the $5 bin for a few games that are still twice as expensive on the PSN store and then sell them back when I'm done with them, nothing is going to make me give that up

[Holmes108]

25 minutes ago, Totallycasual said:

 

None of this really stops you from owning a disc version of the PS5 over the digital one, i own the disc version while also having several games that were purchased on the digital storefront.  I often see people arguing from a standpoint as if me owning the disc version somehow prohibits me from owning digital games, the only difference between me with my full size PS5 and someone with the digital only one, is that they're forced to pay the PSN prices and i can shop around, i can stop at Gamestop and dig through the $5 bin for a few games that are still twice as expensive on the PSN store and then sell them back when I'm done with them, nothing is going to make me give that up

Oh of course! I'm an Xbox guy, and because of the relative power difference between the X and S, going with the Series X was never in question. If I could have gotten a discless Xbox for cheaper with the same power? I don't know. I think I'd have been fine going that route, but I still may have opted for the disc drive just because I do have a collection of blu rays (some 4K). I almost never touch them, but I ditched my stand alone player a while ago. But strictly for gaming, I might have gone discless (console) if I was a Playstation guy. 

 

I'd be more sold on Physical games from a game preservation stance if everything wasn't going online/server required anyways (very annoying for a primarily single player gamer). For that, I just turn into a privateer and keep a copy of my absolute favorites on an external drive, in preparation of the Apocalypse.

[Erioch]

7 hours ago, ImorallySourcedElectrons said:

No, last summer I was at a flea market and I tried to get rid of large cardboard boxes of CD-Rs (think somewhere around 50 / box) for €1 each, because we weren't allowed to give away stuff for free. No one wanted them, heck the thrift stores don't want to take them, even with the boxes still sealed. I did manage to sell a big pile of floppies.

Into the trash they go then.