Device unexpectedly 'revived' in Japan

Optical drives sold out in Japan. Photo: IT Media .

Last week, Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10, prompting users worldwide to upgrade to Windows 11. While tech-savvy users are trying to install it on non-standard computers, most users are still following the correct procedure to get official support.

In Japan, this trend is attracting a large number of people to buy optical drives, causing this item to suddenly run out of stock. According to IT Media , stores in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara electronics district are witnessing a surge in demand for Windows 11 along with optical drives, a device that seems to be outdated.

Tom’s Hardware believes that these two trends have a direct impact on each other. Many people in Japan used to buy software, games, movies, and music on discs with a perpetual license. When they moved to a new computer running Windows 11, they needed a drive to ensure they could access their collection of data stored on physical discs.

These items are currently sold out almost everywhere, especially internal Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) drives, which are more advanced than regular DVD-R drives. But even the common ones are very scarce.

“There is definitely a speed limit for external drives, so many people who prioritize this factor want to use internal drives,” said a representative of Dospara Akihabara Main Shop, a popular computer parts retailer in the area. Another retailer explained that the internal optical drive design is largely ignored these days because most modern computer cases no longer have a standard mounting slot.

Minimalist aesthetic design, along with the popularity of SSD hard drives, has led computer manufacturers to remove the optical drive slot to ensure heat dissipation. This is especially important in the context of GPUs consuming more power.

While the need to move from Windows 10 to 11 isn’t as urgent as it was with versions 7 or 8.1, for those who decide to upgrade, they need to find solutions to continue accessing their data. Especially in an era where everything is moving to digital copyrights and subscriptions, users want to maintain control over the content they actually own in physical form.

As a result, people setting up new PCs to run Windows 11 have been rushing to buy drives, fueling the trend.

“There are quite a few people who want to install an optical drive when using Windows 11, just like they did with Windows 10,” said TSUKUMO eX., another store in Akihabara.

The above trend shows that while most Western users have abandoned using drives in favor of digital, cloud storage, the Japanese are still loyal to traditional physical discs.

Source: https://znews.vn/thiet-bi-bat-ngo-hoi-sinh-tai-nhat-post1595344.html