We have to admit, when Apple came up with the MacBook Air laptop about a year ago, we didn't think 'thinnovation' was the right way for Apple to go. Dismissing the DVD drive in favor of coming out with the thinnest (and possibly the lightest) laptop in the world was controversial. And at best, this laptop would be a secondary device for most. Or so we thought.

Sure we had the same reservations when Apple decided not to include a floppy disk drive (click for some nostalgia) in the original iMac series, one of which by the way we still own (in blueberry, but in hindsight wished had the cranberry). But we got over it fast. At least in that case, the floppy drive was being replaced by the CD/DVD drive, unlike the MacBook Air with no built-in media drive.

And just a few days ago, we were taken aback when Wired's Gadget Lab posted, 'Five Useless Gadgets You Should Throw in the Trash Right Now,' declaring we should give up our printer. "The forests will thank you for it" said the post.

And now Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion predicts what was only a matter of time, and inevitable, "that in the US almost all forms of tangible media will either be in sharp decline or completely extinct" in five years. And he is not just talking about print, "but all tangible forms of media - newspapers, magazines, books, DVDs, boxed software and video games." He gives us several examples as proof.

So there you have it. Most everything is accessed or downloaded online, whether it's software or music. No need for CDs/DVDs. "When was the last time you bought a CD?" Rubel asks. Will you too soon be living totally 'media green'?

Save a tree, please do not print this post unless necessary.