No doubt, the launch of Mac OS X Lion through the Mac App Store has garnered the lion’s share of the tech headlines today. But buried deep within that news was something even more dramatic: the discontinuation of nearly every piece of boxed software Apple currently sells.

AppleInsider reports that resellers on Wednesday received “end of life” (layman’s definition: we’re not selling it anymore) notices for several boxed Apple software products including iWork ’09, Aperture 3, and iLife ’11, as well as the Apple Remote Desktop and Jam Packs for Apple’s GarageBand product.

It’s worth it to note that in every case the same title is available on the App Store, and in some cases, at a discount to the boxed price. There have been hints that Apple was considering a move to digital delivery, which seemingly were confirmed with the launch of the Mac App Store itself.

Apple has also cut down on the number of games it stocks in its stores by 75%, instead opting to direct customers to the App Store itself for these downloads. It’s a little too early to tell if this is a good strategy.

Consider the fact that Mac OS X “Lion” is a pretty hefty download coming in at almost 4GB. If you’re on a slow connection, or worse yet a capped one, that download is going to either  take forever to download or take a chunk out of your monthly allotment.

That may be why Apple will offer an option to get Lion on a USB flash drive beginning in August, according to Cult of Mac. Not everybody has the connection to download such a large file just yet.

I wonder if Apple’s going to be able to successfully kill the DVD with the Mac App Store as it did with the floppy drive with the first iMacs over a decade ago.

 
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