The point here is CDS will still be a means of software delivery.. But how will you play them back? People will start converting them more and more toward a small hard drive and put the discs away, wasting too much money on any optical drive at this point is a risk..
This is NOT even remotely close to VINYL going away or not, this is EXACTLY like a TAPE deck going away, where can you purchase Cassettes??? It has to do with conveinence software and reliabilty out of a disc that is easily stored and replaced by the same digital means vs. carrying around a Disc.
Vinyl has had about what 4 times the life on this planet than CD? And for good reason, its still going to require a Needle and table to play, you can't just load it on a Drive and get the same experience or sound, thats been the point the whole time, As for digital who cares if its transported back to your ears off a Chip or a Disc?? Nobody if it sounds as good and is even more accessable and libraried.
Yes you can buy CD for some years to come, but don't think you can buy them as much locally is the point.. Tower records fell, best buy will have mostly only newer titles or ones that are always in demand. Maybe even that will go away further, and some will say screw it, Now I have to order all my cd's anyway, why not download it and have it now, no shipping, same sound, Digital pictures etc... Of course the websites have some work to do to get us the un-compressed files in ultimate availability, but I have a feeling that will happen, its like the IPOD nobody would have believed it 4 years ago, and you think it will stop there?
Nothing wrong with CD so don't get me wrong, but the real point is I would not invest heavily in a Optical disc drive, it seems insane to concern yourself with owning a Teac NEO drive clamp, or anything in these price ranges unless you have a ton of cash and it makes no difference.
