I complained that new cases with optical drive bays were hard to find back when I did my last major computer upgrade in 2020 and everybody said "physical media is dead, you lost this one."

In 2026 there are approximately 13 gazillion YouTube videos about "taking back control of media because streaming sucks!" and half of them are about ripping your media with the optical drive that was "dead" six years ago.

I played the long game but I won.