"... this development is certainly another nail in the coffin of the brick-and-mortar data archives that are record stores." The lack of an optical drive on Ap

"... this development is certainly another nail in the coffin of the brick-and-mortar data archives that are record stores." The lack of an optical drive on Apple laptops will not be the stake to the heart of the brick-and-mortar music store; lack of consumer interest will. The social music scene is moving online. Services like Last.fm, Pandora, and user "created" content sites like SoundCloud are the future. The nostalgia of standing around a music store is nice to think about, but not particularly profitable for the owner.