CD/DVD drives such as this CD-R recorder from Ricoh, are no longer a must-have in new computers as USB drives have become roomer and more software is available for direct download. Contributed by Ricoh / PR NewsFoto
Is it time to say goodbye to CD/DVD drives in computers? As our Internet connections get faster, USB drives get roomier and everything goes streaming (hello Netflix, goodbye discs), it seems the end may be near.
Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 10 is the first to be sold on a USB flash drive (it’s also available on disc and by download) and Apple has cut out discs from its OS X distribution and drives from a lot of its Mac computers. Tablets such as Microsoft’s Surface and the iPad don’t have optical drives either. Unless you still have a large CD collection to rip or older games to play, you probably don’t need the drive much these days and may not require one on your next computer.
In my case, I removed the disc drive from my MacBook Pro a while back to add a fast solid-state drive in its place. But you never know when you may need to burn a CD or transfer data from an old disc; I keep a cheap USB CD/DVD drive around in a drawer just in case I need one.
In this space every week, we’ll define a tech term, offer a timely tip or answer questions about technology from readers. Email ogallaga@statesman.com.
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