Lots of new USB DVD drives are available from brands I've never heard of. But the availability of Bluray drives is so low I suspect they're only new old stock.
replyI'm almost certain the reason is licenses - DVDs licenses have long expired and back when they were in effect DVDs were the mainstream option, so lots of devices and machines around for them when licenses were needed and that gave momentum to DVDs. Blurays on the other hand still require licensing and they never became as mainstream as DVDs.
replyI can find a bunch of small businesses pressing CDs and DVDs but they rarely provide a Bluray option. I have a feeling that even after Bluray patents expire, DVDs will still outlast Blurays :-P.
You should look for Blu-ray drives instead of Bluray which does not exist /s
replyBack around 2007 during the red vs blue HD laser format war, the spelling was hammered into me as the incorrect spelling was tirelessly brought to one's attention. Since we're going down memory lane on shiny discs, I couldn't resist bringing this one back too
Probably. Bluray still exists, still a popular medium for selling games on PS/Xbox and to certain extent movies to people who like to watch on their high-end equipment.
replySony is discontinuing all the BD disc players,as well as famously discontinuing disc games for the playstation.
replyXBox is making similar moves but isn't committing 100% to the bit yet.
Sony probably hasn't been the OEM for their drives in ages. Microsoft never was.
I'm sure there are still one or two OEMs who build drives.
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replyAbsolutely. And discs as well. I had an x-ray recently and asked them to give me the image so I could take it to a different clinic, and they burned it onto a CD. So I suppose optical media is sort of irreplaceable for medical applications at least.
replyLike floppy disks were in Japan for a long time... and fax machines in other countries.
replyThe thing is that sometimes you just need a cheap physical medium you can give away. Sure cloud is an alternative, but it's a bad one, since it costs money to keep online. A CD or a floppy is something you record and forget. And USB sticks are much more expensive and can be a security risk.
replyoh, how quickly we forget the infamous autorun debacle of the CD-ROM
replyApparently faxing is the preferred medium of exchange in the medical field.
replyOne would think that some sort of common EDI would have come around by now.