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Seems to me, there has to be some form of hardware redundancy in the system. Maybe they are counting on some form of time machine backup function that lets you boot / run disk utility? I've found having 10.6 on both the SSD and hard drive to be invaluable in dealing with a recent hardware problem (defective mother board). I would not want to totally reliant on just one plus a non-bootable TM backup.
I concur that optical drives are no longer primary storage/data access tools, but they are still very valuable for maintenance and support.
It'll be interesting to see what Apple has come up with as a solution to this problem. I concur that the next generation pro laptops may not have an optical drive except maybe in the 17" model.
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Relinquishing all my data to the cloud is not an option... being in control of my stuff seems to keep the burden on me..... thats something I can live with... having options seems reasonable as long as I control them. Change is constant.... learning what changes to make is individual and requires thoughtful distillation within ones self and without mindless transference from external sources imho.
Rudie
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If they do dump them, I'd say Apple's take on this will be: "If you want an optical drive, go out and buy an external one."
JoeM
![[Image: yVdL8af.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/yVdL8af.jpg)
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Replacing the HD in an iMac is no longer a user option. So, when it craps out, you'll be taking it to the Apple Store for replacement and cloud sync anyway.
Once they make the HD in the laptops unserviceable (e.g. solder the SSD to the motherboard), that will leave only the Mac Pros with any user serviceable parts.
This is not a future to which I look forward.
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raz,
I agree. It's definitely an unpleasant future. But, it's easy enough to avoid if you have an external drive for backups and a sound local backup plan. If this future unfolds as we're assuming, an external drive and backup plan becomes imperative. It should be imperative either way but many people still don't have an external drive for backups and a backup plan.
Now, if Apple dumps USB and/or adapters for Thunderbolt to USB/Firewire 400/Firewire 800/Esata aren't readily available, then all bets are off. Fortunately, I doubt either if these issues will come to play. Even Apple isn't going to dump USB altogether and 3rd party companies will ensure appropriate Thunderbolt to ____ adapters are available.
Robert
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I think the optical drive is on its way out. In 10 years, they'll be as rare as floppies are now. They won't be gone forever though. External drives will still be around. I'm currently going through the process of converting stuff from VHS and Mini-DV to DVD. Yeah, I know that in a few years DVDs will be as obsolete as VHS is now, but I look at it as an evolution.
That said, my speculation is that Apple will reluctantly offer a DVD or Flash option for installing Lion. They have to. BUT... I expect Lion to be the last iteration of OS X to have that option. Prepare yourselves now.
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According to someone named Thomas Brand, burning is easy:
1. Purchase and download Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Mac running Snow Leopard.
2. Right click on "Mac OS X Lion" installer and choose the option to "Show Package Contents".
3. Inside the Contents folder that appears you will find a SharedSupport folder, and inside the SharedSupport folder you will find the "InstallESD.dmg". This is the boot disk we've all been waiting for.
4. Copy "InstallESD.dmg" to another folder, like the Desktop.
5. Launch Disk Utility and click the burn button.
6. Select the copied "InstallESD.dmg" as the image to burn. Insert a standard 4.7 GB DVD, and wait for your new Lion Boot Disk to come out toasty hot.
His quote: "I'm going to test this tomorrow, but if true, I will be a very happy IT guy."
twitter: @ThomasBrand
A possibility?
