After dealing with the second round of replacement hardware, the third iteration of hardware landed on my desk. Again, much to my dismay, no optical drives.

Point:

• I am perfectly capable of surviving without an optical drive. The optical drives are for convenience to our end-users which is a fundamental principle of any IT service provider.
• Netboot, PXE, etc. are all perfectly acceptable methods for booting a computer.
• Yes, you can share CD images via the network.
• An optical drive provides a potential unauthorized software vector, but so does Internet access and USB ports.
• Not having optical drives yields one less failure point, simpler hardware and (potentially, though never realized by the consumer) lower per-unit cost.
• Large companies deploy software via drive images.

Counterpoint:

• PXE/netbooting and sharing files via a network adds too many unnecessary levels of complexity for simple file transfers and software installation.
• You could forget an external optical drive if you travel frequently.
• External drives are more bulky in the long run.
• Software doesn’t come on USB thumbdrives nor external hard drives yet.
• People who are not very computer-savvy have adjusted to having optical drives and you’re now taking them away.

The Moral Of This Story: Don’t let your boss’ neurosis win.