Removing the disc locks everyone to the PS store...

PlayStation is going to value destroying the used game market over giving users a Blu-ray player 100/100 times.

Oh damn, I'd missed that the PS5 Pro was mechless.
I guess once you get into £700 games consoles, the argument of "it's the same price as a decent bluray player" goes out the window.

And now everyone is locked into the PS store, unless they buy an external drive.

I worked retail in consumer electronics when the PS3 was new and blu-ray was just taking off.

As I recall, the PS3 was stupidly expensive when it came out, but after a couple years the hype died down and the price dropped. It was still more expensive than a standalone blu-ray player, but sometimes you might talk someone into buying a playstation instead of the player.

At the time it was pretty cool that the PS3 was an all-in-one entertainment centre. A lot of families had the "computer room" plus half a dozen devices plugged into their TV. The PS3 really combined a lot of them into a single package. Families could monitor their kids' youtube usage because now it was in the living room, cable/power management became a lot easier, and you could still watch the new movies on it.

I'm nostalgic for the PS3, so I'm sure I'm looking at the past with rose-coloured glasses. All the same, I'm saddened by the PS5. It seems Sony's really pushing away from what made their devices great. Instead of offering the user more choice it seems they're trying to trap them in their own commercial ecosystem.