Whither the Portable Optical Drive?

"The MacBook Air and the Ultrabook come without a piece of hardware that's been a mainstay in laptops for a long time — the optical drive," says a piece at CNET. "Maybe because they really aren't that necessary anymore." I would have thought otherwise a few years ago, but traveling in the meantime with a small netbook was certainly handy. Since that machine died, I think I've used the optical drive in its low-end laptop successor a grand total of once, which was to test its wireless compatibility with a Live CD Linux distro.

Well..

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you get software on a laptop without an optical drive?
Most of that stuff is still sold on cd/dvd...

You filthy pirates are downloading it right... We need more laws!

Hello, 2007.

[Mostly Harmless]

Netbooks and ultraportables don't have optical drives? What's next, cellphones without mechanical number pads? How do people come up with this stuff?

Re:Battery bay more use

[PolygamousRanchKid]

. . . along with
* an external hard drive
* empower + ac adapter, with anything-to-anything plug adapter
* 5 port netgear switch
* a few cables
* gaffer tape
* leatherman
* cable ties

Hell, with all that stuff, MacGyver could build an atomic powered laser . . .

And after a particularly problematic experience in Gaza, I've added a tiny USB keyboard to the list.

Hmmm . . . I must have missed that episode . . .

Re:If the PC is new enough

[ksd1337]

Then all you need to do is burn a bootloader like PLoP to a CD and use it to boot the USB drive.