Bought a new laptop for both my daughter (Lenovo) and my Wife (Asus). Neither one came with an internal CD/DVD reader. I just figured that was standard, but I guess they are starting to go away now. Not too much of a problem, since external CD/DVD readers/burners start at about $35 and are USB plug and play. But tithout this external drive you would not be able to rip CD's and store them for digital play-back either.
And how are you expected to install software from a disk? I guess the marketplace is going more toward a cloud delivery of software, or download or buy it on a USB stick. I know buying Microsoft Office Home and Student is cheaper buying as a key card or download than a CD, and is only good for 1 PC. MS Office 365 is a subscription service that is a cheaper option, good for more than one PC, but expires in a year. If you have a college student it is cheaper still and good for 4 years (I do, and this may be the way to go).
Planned obsolescence in software licensing. Well, it was going to happen eventually.