I think the reason we haven't heard many complaints about the doing away of physical media is exactly this. As long as power users can make their own offline media, there's nothing to complain about.

How to create a bootable USB to install OS X Mavericks Your email has been sent Jesus Vigo goes over the steps to create a bootable USB to install OS X 10.9 (aka ...

You'll need a Mac, an 8GB USB drive or SD card, and a little patience. So you can't simply 'burn' the ESD DMG inside the installer to USB anymore? I've done that on ...

It's a troubleshooting nightmare: you have problems starting your standard Mac OS X installation, or another serious issue that requires re-installation of Mac OS X ...

I’ve written quite a bit about installing Lion (OS X 10.7) and about the benefits of creating a bootable installer disc or drive. While the latter process isn’t prohibitively difficult, it’s still a ...

We’ve looked at ways you can install Windows or Linux on almost any computer using nothing more than a USB flash drive. Now you can do the same thing with Mac OS X Lion. Developer tonymacx86 has ...

If you have a Mac capable of running Classic (i.e., not an Intel-based Mac) but either reformatted the drive and installed only Mac OS X, or acquired the machine with only Mac OS X installed, you may ...

A bootable Mac OS X thumb drive comes in handy when you need to troubleshoot OS issues for yourself, your family, or your friends. It’s also extremely useful for keeping your basic setup consistent ...

How to create a bootable USB to install OS X Your email has been sent Creating a USB Installer for Apple OS X 10.7-10.8 Creating a USB Installer for Apple OS X 10.5 ...