Mac OSX Lion: The End of the CD-ROM?

Will the arrival of Mac OSX Lion and continued use of the App Store spell the end for the optical disc? Why has the CD-ROM format survived since the early 80s?

The App Store

The CD-ROM was popularized in use during the 1980s. Known also as optical discs, they served to store data and music.  Lasers inside a CD-ROM drive read the media stored on the discs. The disc format received an upgrade in the 1990s when DVDs were established. Essentially DVDs provided more storage than their CD-ROM counterparts. The Blu-ray disc is the most current version of the optical disc format providing high-definition video and even more storage capabilities. The name Blu-ray comes from the color of the laser (blue-violet) used to read the contents of the optical disc.

With the launch of the Mac App Store, users could purchase and install software directly onto their systems. No need to wait for a disc to arrive in the mail and the App Store eliminates the need of physical disc copies. Apple's upcoming operating system OSX Lion will most likely only be available through the App Store. Could these two moves by Apple signal an end to CD-ROM software entirely? Their MacBook Air laptop does not include an optical drive at all. 

What's keeping optical discs alive for the last two decades? Is it the music industry which still perseveres with this format or technology in general for not "creating" another alternative? USB flash drives have become less expensive as of late and have gained in popularity due to their smaller form factor. Why can't this technology be configured as a new way to playback music and video? Is the enterprise also to blame for the continuance of the optical disc? Are users just not capable of shifting to flash drives for data and information storage?

Perhaps companies like Apple will lead the change.  Given the success of the products like the iPad and MacBook Air, users don't seem to mind living and working without CD-ROM drives. Removal of the optical disc isn't about to happen just yet but it's decline and demise are coming soon. 

Update: unconfirmed reports indicate that OSX Lion may only be directly available through the App Store or a guided install at an Apple Store. We have revised the post to reflect this.