Most? Really? I store my working images internally and I create a fair amount of images each year. My archived images are stored on a nas and discrete drives taken to to remote location.
So, given the new trashcan (which I really wanted to like), it adds yet another box, for no good reason except for the trashcan being "stylish"?
That's progress?
I believe that he is right, most and I will add most "big time". From enterprise shared storage to local USB3, esata and thunderbolt external arrays. I will add that a lot of them are running laptops, either as the only machines or combined with a desktop. Most professionals are not buying big xeon boxes. Even some of the ones that are, are still using external arrays.
Of course there are many professionals that do not, you by example, but we are not talking about particulars, but big numbers.
External boxes have many benefits. They are in general, easier to configure. Some don't need configuration. You can lock the box in a sound proof or even secure shell. They have higher capacity. For mac pro users, in particular, the external box is faster (you can buy a card). It's more complicated to replace a disk or read status of an internal raid. Can be used with a laptop etc. If we want to get funny, in case of fire, is easier to pick the Pegasus and run with it that running with a big Xeon box
The internal drive system on the mac pro is slow. Even on modern machines, when working sequentially, the Pegasus can be competitive with internal SSD (sata). The Areca is even faster.
We may have a different opinion because of our particular environments. I can't gauge the numbers for medium format users. But they are a tinny proportion of professionals, and all the ones that I have met in person are using external arrays. As a technical consultant I meet a bunch of professionals, and most of them do use external arrays. People that have little tech orientation can just buy a Drobo 5D (with build in battery, so even if your UPS fails it will save the data, try that with a big Xeon box). Some external boxes have easy to use, build in, remote location synchronization. I expect that the next generation will have encryption at a low cost (some of them already have).
I could continue for years, but that illustrate why so many professionals have move to external storage.
Laptop users will love this new box if the price and performance are right. I doubt performance will be and issue. Intel is in the fight for mobile graphics adding pressure on Intel /AMD. That means future laptops will be very powerful, not long before they can handle 4K real time. If it was't for external boxes I will like to see how many people will be using RAID.
Best regards,
J. Duncan