Apple Declares the Optical Disc Obsolete

21 July 2011: With the launch of the new Mac minis this morning, Apple declared the optical disc obsolete.

"Mac mini is designed without an optical disc drive," the company said in the device's promotional materials. "Because these days, you don't need one."

Certainly not for Apple software. This morningthe company end-of-lifed retail-box versions of a number of its productsincluding iWork, Aperture 3, iLife '11, Apple Remote Desktop and a bunch of GarageBand Jam Packs.

Boxed versions of those applications will still be available for order from Apple's online store, but the trend here is pretty clear. From now on, you'll get your Mac software via the App Store.