Optical Disc Drives were very popular in the early generation of computers. It is used for reading or writing data from pc to an optical disc and vice versa. DVDs, VCDs, and Blu-Ray Discs are commonly used optical media. In the new generation of computers, everything is upgrading. Now new PCs no longer have DVD drives anymore.
Optical disc drives are obsolete because of various reasons. In this article, we will discuss them. But optical disc drives are nostalgic and still, some old documents are stored on CDs or DVDs. But with time, we need to upgrade ourselves as well.
What is Computer Optical Drive?
Computer Optical Disc Drive(ODD) is a piece of computer hardware. By using laser light or electromagnetic waves, reading or writing is done to pc from optical discs.
CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and game consoles were available in the market. Now everything is available on the internet in digital form. Earlier Optical drives were used to – read, watch, play, burn or record data to pc from these discs.
Why do New PCs no Longer Have DVD Drives Anymore?
Now, if you have a question – “why do new PCs no longer have DVD drives anymore?” Then are many reasons behind the obsoletion of Optical Disc Drives. Here we will discuss some:
1. Limited Capacity
The limited capacity of the discs is one of the most important reasons. The first driver disc, CDs has limited storage capacity i.e, 650 MB maximum, which is really very low storage capacity.
Then, if we talk about DVDs, their storage capacity is better than CDs i.e, more or less 4 – 5GB. Blu-ray Discs have up to 200 GB storage capacity which is much better than CDs and DVDs.
But nowadays, discs with Terabytes storage capacity are available in the market which gives you faster access to the data and are available at different prices as per their storage capacity.
2. Less Space
By adding Optical Disc Drive, the weight of the whole system is increased. So, to make the devices lighter, and easy to carry, the manufacturers stopped making them. The new generation’s laptops and tablets no longer come with DVD/CD drives anymore.
3. Non-Physical Media
Smartphones are another reason indirectly. Smartphones are easily available in the market. And we can download plenty of songs on the internet. So it is not much needed anymore to have a disc drive or have a CD.
On the other hand, DVDs were very popular once. But now, popular OTT Platforms like – Netflix, and Amazon Prime are there to enjoy videos and movies on the go.
So it’s not necessary anymore to have Optical Disc Drives in your system.
4. Format Wars
For piracy concerns and to prevent digital copies, manufacturers make some changes to Blu-Ray discs. But after those changes, optical disc drives were unable to read those discs. So it confirmed that those drives need to update.
If you want to play Blu-ray on Windows operating system, then check out our guide on – how to watch Blu-rays on Windows 11.
5. Backup Handling
In the early days, we used to store videos or audio or important pieces of information on CDs, DVDs, or other discs. But if that disc may break or show some other problem to read or simply does not work, the audio, videos, or pieces of information can be in danger. It can be restored with the help of another application or in another way. But it could be time-consuming and it may cost money.
So, to avoid these kinds of hazards, nowadays we rely on USBs or external hard discs. Which are easy to use and easy to carry. Nowadays, cloud storage is getting more popular, Google One and One Drive are great examples.
Conclusion
Computers are upgrading rapidly. Videos, audios, and even games are now available on the internet. So you don’t need some extra machines which increase the weight of your laptop or tablet. Moreover, having various DVDs or CDs is expensive. You just need to buy a USB with a large storage capacity and a one-time investment. All these reasons are enough to elaborate on why optical disk drives are obsolete.
