Monday May 28, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

PCs shed pounds and CD drives, gain touch screens

Technology Nov. 03, 2009 - 06:37AM JST ( 16 )

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16 Comments

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DeepAir65Nov. 03, 2009 - 09:30AM JST

your PC likely is still the center of your digital universe

FAIL! Have not used a PC at home for over 2 years - only work would force me to do so
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theproNov. 03, 2009 - 11:33AM JST

No, we still want DVD drives
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mareo2Nov. 03, 2009 - 12:57PM JST

I only used the DVD drive when I installed the OS and the drivers for the hardware in my desktop. After that I just downloaded free software from the Internet. DVD drives are going to be replaced just like the flopy disk drives.
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theproNov. 03, 2009 - 02:10PM JST

The only way DVD drives will disappear is if large numbers of people switch to blu-ray. People still watch movies on their computers/rip movies to their hdds.
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mareo2Nov. 03, 2009 - 05:05PM JST

DVD drives was popular for sharing movies downloaded and burned exchanging disks in the work place like sharing books in the past. Today people just watch the movies and TV programs on sites that list links to videos streamead online. The quality is roughly like old video tapes, but most people only can afford small screens so Blu-ray quality is overkill. In my opinion DVDs and Blu-Ray dont are competing with other solid forms of data storage, they are competing with online data storage. Is "quality" vs. "free".
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AlphaapeNov. 03, 2009 - 05:53PM JST

They have disabled all USB drives on Navy computers, so if you want to take work around with you, you need to burn it to a CD, load it to your home computer, burn it to another and load it back at work. Until they start selling software via thumb drives, I expect CD drives to remain.
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888naffNov. 03, 2009 - 06:48PM JST

“They have disabled all USB drives on Navy computers, so if you want to take work around with you, you need to burn it to a CD, load it to your home computer, burn it to another and load it back at work. Until they start selling software via thumb drives, I expect CD drives to remain.”

I guess you must be breaking their rules then by putting data onto an unprotected cd/dvd that could be left anywhere.

I also guess they haven’t issued enough protected encrypted usb flash drives like “military grade ironkey” and made and exceptions in their usb lockdown policy so those devices can be used.

I guess with the above scenario then pcs without optical drives will become preferred by all branches of government everywhere.
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gogogoNov. 03, 2009 - 08:41PM JST

You can tell the author loves their mac... You'll find that toshiba were the first to introduce a laptop without a CD drive not apple.
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PepinGalargaNov. 03, 2009 - 09:42PM JST

IBM had their X series without a optical drive for ages, and it rocks. I haven't kept up with the recent changes Lenovo is making, but their X tablet is their top of the line model. Once they get multitouch i'm getting one.

The mainstreaming of blu-ray drives will mean that people will want to have optical disks again in the future, unless there is a cheap way to have them as a USB or Express slot addon.
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AlphaapeNov. 04, 2009 - 12:13AM JST

888naf, I guess you must be breaking their rules then by putting data onto an unprotected cd/dvd that could be left anywhere.

I also guess they haven’t issued enough protected encrypted usb flash drives like “military grade ironkey” and made and exceptions in their usb lockdown policy so those devices can be used.

I guess with the above scenario then pcs without optical drives will become preferred by all branches of government everywhere.

The stuff I bring home has no Persoanl Identifying Information (PII) and is not classified. So to take it home and work on it is not illegal. Also, if you are military or civilian worker, you can go to a web site and get free anti-virus software (Norotn, McAfee) that you can use at home since DOD is aware that people do tend to work. I don't see the military going to strictly USB in anytime soon. CD drives are still the best way to get music on computers when, as in the case with military networks, you can't just go and download it and play it. One CD can keep you in music for weeks.
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nemoflowNov. 04, 2009 - 12:30AM JST

So, this article is a case of; 'computing is advancing!'

We all say...

Erm...

We know.
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BadseyNov. 04, 2009 - 08:05PM JST

some programs still look for that CD or DVD = you will need to virtual drive that DVD/CD now.
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BadseyNov. 05, 2009 - 12:51AM JST

Windows users: You still need to get a Virtual Drive program (like PowerIso) for this. For Mac users it is built into the system and in fact you are mostly using disc images already. There are some free ones also but PowerIso may still be the best.

-had to clarify that.

Ex: Pop's uses Rosetta Stone on an Asus EEPC. Program is on the computer and the data files are all on CD/DVD. Rosetta Stone still looks for that dumb CD/DVD no matter what.
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lostrune2Nov. 05, 2009 - 06:25PM JST

For virtual drives, Daemon Tools Lite should be fine and free and auto-mount.
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saborichanNov. 07, 2009 - 02:36PM JST

Yeah. This is a bad idea for anyone who needs to customise their PC. Your various devices like a mouse, webcam, or printer come with a CD of software. And if your PC breaks down and you need to start from the Boot CD - What on earth do you do??
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lostrune2Nov. 07, 2009 - 07:15PM JST

saborichan,

Yeah, those should be provided with boot USB flash drives instead.