Tell me, do you know a lot of technologies that are very popular in the recent past, but are rapidly losing their popularity today? We think that such examples are known to each of you! One of the most striking cases of such oblivion is the optical drive, which to this day is practically not used by a large number of users.
Many people think that these drives appeared no earlier than the mid-90s, but this statement is true only for our country. The initial prerequisite for their creation was the research of domestic scientists in the 60s, when the concept of a "cold laser" was first put forward. The first drives appeared in the 70s (!) Of the last century, and at the same time a lot of their various modifications (the so-called "books") were developed. However, pretty soon even their manufacturers themselves forgot about it.
Until recently, a high-quality optical drive was a welcome guest in every computer. More precisely, a guest is vital, because in the conditions of the catastrophic state of the Internet in those days, installing programs and watching movies was possible only with its help. There were no flash drives then, and their first representatives (which appeared a long time ago) differed in microscopic volumes and incredible cost.
But in recent years, an increasing number of users, for the most part, are abandoning “optics,” doing well with flash cards and network storage. A considerable number of young users are already surprised to ask what an optical drive is, since they practically did not hold the "blanks" in their hands.
That is why a considerable part of buyers when assembling a computer on their own does not even remember the drive. Or recalls only with the next bout of longing for the old days. But is the absence of this device in computers and laptops justified? Let's try to figure it out ...
So, if you just play games, sit on social networks and watch movies (again on the network), then you obviously do not need an optical drive. Let's look at the situation from the other side. Suppose you are an amateur photographer who needs to save the most valuable pictures from time to time. What are you going to do? Every time to buy bulky hard drives? It’s better to store information in the “cloud”, since the reliability of hard drives has long been questioned for a long time.
But what if you need to transfer pictures to the client digitally? Buying flash drives every time is quite expensive, and it’s not always possible to buy them, while blanks can be found in almost every distribution network around the clock. In this case, the solution may be an external optical drive that connects to the computer as needed.
In addition, their reliability can serve as a plus in favor of standard optical disks . In any case, after 6 years, the CD-ROM will be in good condition, which can not be said about the usual hard drive, which can "die" in a couple of months.
In a word, an optical drive is still quite a necessary and useful thing that can help out at a difficult moment!