I most likely won't buy a PC or laptop without a CD or DVD drive since I occassionally still burn DVD-R with files since it is the cheapest offline way to back-up or to share 4.4 GB of files since DVD-R can be bought in packs of 100 for only 20 dollars online. Also, I still watch DVD movies and play/install game discs from a PC.
A lot of people also still uses DVD-R to cheaply share files with friends and family since they are cheaper then USB flash drives.
Hopefully, when I buy my next PC or laptop, it comes with a Blu-Ray burner drive, so I can watch and burn Blu-Ray movies and Data discs.
I may buy a laptop without a DVD or CD drive if the laptop is cheap like a nettop, and has USB ports to plug in an external DVD or CD drive.
I agree in a few years more computers won't come with DVD Burners, but I think Blu-Ray Disc Burner Drives for computers will replace DVD/CD Drives since a lot of people still watch and Burn/pirate Blu-Ray movies, and might also want to watch Blu-Ray movies on their computer if they don't own a TV, and just own a PC.
Blu-Ray probably be eventually be replace with something better in the future.
I also use my computer to watch DVD, and play games which require the disc to play.
I think not having a disc drive like a DVD drive would be inconvenient for people with no internet or slow internet where they can't buy DLC online since most store bought software, PC Games, movies, music, and audio books are still stored on DVD or CD Disc because using disc is the cheapest way to store software, movies, and music offline.
I'm ok with it. It makes the laptops more lightweight, I have a Thinkpad x61 that doesn't have a cd drive, but has a dock that has one and at first I didn't know how I felt about it, but then after thinking about how rare it is that I burn a cd let alone, read one I realized that it really wasn't all that important to have one. I use that as my travel laptop as it is very light and very portable.
I have a Thinkpad t61 now and although it is more powerful, it is also heavier because it has the cd drive.
I'm sure the next big media format will be USB's. which movies and programs come on. Plus they just may move the CD/DVD thing to a extra thing you have to buy.
I think Blu-Ray will be the next big Disc format people will use when more computers come with Blu-Ray burners because Blu-Ray disc can hold 25 GB per single layer disc, and 50GB per Dual-layer disc, and computer Blu-Ray Burner drive can also be used to play Blu-Ray Movies, and Games when PC game makers like EA start selling games on Blu-Ray.
Plus, you can get a pack of 20 Blu-Ray burnable disc for 21 dollars at Amazon. That is about 1.01 US Dollars per 25 GB Disc in the 20 Disc pack.
Blu-Ray disc can also be played back on the PS3, Blu-Ray Player, and other computers, and it is cheaper then USB Flash drives which cost 30 dollars for 16GB-32GB which cost a lot more then Blu-Ray burnable disc.
Blu-Ray is popular with the PS3, Blu-Ray TV players, but they are not as popular with regular store bought PC and laptops like HP, Asus, Acer,etc which cost $300-900 dollars because of the higher price of Blu-Ray Burner drives, so a lot of PC makers still use DVD Burners instead of Blu-Ray Burners because DVD burners are cheaper then Blu-Ray Burners, and a lot of cheap PCs can't handle playing 1080P HD video recorded on a Blu-Ray disc without slowing down because of slower video cards, CPU, and RAM on average computers.
Blu-Ray is popular with High End Gaming PCs and more expensive Entertainment computers which cost $1000 or more dollars, but not as many people own Gaming and Entertainment PCs compared to average PCs.
