said by DC DSL:Times have changed. Parts have become far more reliable and uniform. And, frankly, competent users who can (or even want to) work under the hood are an endangered species. There's no point in the expense when those discs are going to end up unused and likely discarded within 2-3 years. Those of us who still want/need the discs will have to just get with the program.
I don't know about that... but your point still stands--idiot consumers would rather pack off the whole laptop back to the manufacturer to get the HDD replaced and OS reinstalled than do it themselves.
And manufacturers are happy about this, because if you didn't pay the arm and leg for the warranty, they going to hold the laptop's functionality hostage until you pony up the $200 for the replacement and reinstall.