FireWires demise heralded by critics!

[Brad Trent]

Oh...that little thing....

"...Oh, what about Target Disk Mode?"

Ya know...I was just wondering about this myself over the weekend when I had to jump-start an older G5 with Target Disk Mode....I guess if I was a poor sod who owns a new MacBook my only option would be to take the thing into the shop, right?

I've been thinking about this whole death of FireWire thing a lot lately, especially since I'm starting up four separate 8gig RAID systems and am in the long process of transferring data from hard drives onto the RAID...and thinking...how bloody long this kind of thing would take using USB!!! And even simple little tasks like file transfers to clients will become a chore. I have a bunch of 80 & 100gig FireLite drives I use to send jobs to clients...I also have one Western Digital USB pocket drive that I bought on location when I needed an emergency backup...the things is so slow I NEVER use it...doing a 60gig transfer on the thing reminds me of how I felt doing a rotation in Photoshop v 1.0....waiting...waiting....waiting..........

But we can't cry about it, right? Intel and USB win this round 'cuz "good enough" is obviously...good enough....!

BT in NYC

 

[claimed4all]

I love the Firewire port, needless to say I only use it for a few external drives. I tried the USB cables and they are way to slow. Now I am possibly looking into a simple 4-8 channel mixers to plug a couple decent mics in, and I am torn between USB and Firewire. I know Firewire is better, but in three years when I upgrade the macbook to another macbook, I am sure firewire will still be missing.

 

[Hierotochan]

I use a LaCie 125Gb FW/USB with my MBP on the move.
Also at home I use it as my Time Machine backup.

When I use it with the USB I need to pack both the USB adaptors (-1),
which means I can't copy directly to a USB stick (-1).

Fire Wire powers it off the one cable (+1) & frees up the 2 USB ports (+1)
& at sustained large data transfers (backups, DVDs/DMG Etc.) the rate is much faster (+1).

Fire Wire wins by 5!

Sony was just slapping on poor quality ports to existing products so they could say "latest connections... blah... Fire Wire is capable of 480Mbps", just not on their machines.

HD-DVD did seem to look like the better option, but you put a Blu-Ray player in a PS3 for the same money as a HD-DVD player & it's over. Sony wins again. It also didn't help that the Xbox external HD-DVD drive (never a good idea, anyone remember the Sega CD?) looked hideous.

Both (USB3 & FW3200) will have their uses & both be better at different things.
I just don't like the way the user gets caught out while the big businesses fight it out.
That & the waste from god knows how many HD-DVD players/drives were trashed.

 

[Brad Trent]

See...this is what I don't get...nobody is saying USB is better...and yet, FireWire is gettin' kicked to the curb!

And I know, most users ain't like me...pushing hundreds of gigabytes of data around every day onto multiple redundant backup drives, so the speed attraction of FireWire is likely lost on their pointy little heads...but still, I can't for the life of me figure out why Apple is gearing up to the inevitable jettisoning of a system that is, by every measurable aspect, is way better than the alternative that is gonna become the accepted norm...!!! Especially when there is an even faster FireWire product about to pop into view!!!

BT in NYC

 

[dolphin842]

Part of the problem is that many people see the discussion as "USB vs. FireWire" when in fact they are complementary interfaces. USB is great for packet-based peripherals like mice/keyboards, FW is great for streaming peripherals (hard drives, etc). I really hope Apple brings FW3200 to market.

 

[FX120]

See...this is what I don't get...nobody is saying USB is better...and yet, FireWire is gettin' kicked to the curb!

And I know, most users ain't like me...pushing hundreds of gigabytes of data around every day onto multiple redundant backup drives, so the speed attraction of FireWire is likely lost on their pointy little heads...but still, I can't for the life of me figure out why Apple is gearing up to the inevitable jettisoning of a system that is, by every measurable aspect, is way better than the alternative that is gonna become the accepted norm...!!! Especially when there is an even faster FireWire product about to pop into view!!!

BT in NYC

Like I said on the previous page, it all comes down to the group behind the standard.

Firewire had it's chance and it missed it, about 5 years ago.

To the average consumer who is not a pro or a geek, USB is the standard for external devices. Printers, hard drives, speakers, mice, and now camcorders all use USB, so why is there a reason for the consumer to choose firewire over USB? Firewire is more expensive that a USB product and harder to find, computers with firewire are less common and usually more expensive. It doesn't matter if it's faster, it's a hassle to use from their point of view.

Buy a USB hard drive and know that you can use it on any computer made since 1998, it's universal.

So why would a company continue to manufacture and pay for the licensing when your average consumer will rarely use it?

 

[PracticalMac]

Like I said on the previous page, it all comes down to the group behind the standard.

Firewire had it's chance and it missed it, about 5 years ago.

To the average consumer who is not a pro or a geek, USB is the standard for external devices. Printers, hard drives, speakers, mice, and now camcorders all use USB, so why is there a reason for the consumer to choose firewire over USB? Firewire is more expensive that a USB product and harder to find, computers with firewire are less common and usually more expensive. It doesn't matter if it's faster, it's a hassle to use from their point of view.

Buy a USB hard drive and know that you can use it on any computer made since 1998, it's universal.

So why would a company continue to manufacture and pay for the licensing when your average consumer will rarely use it?

If you are saying the group needs to promote it more and correctly, you are right.

Sony caused the trouble by installing the no-power 4 pin iLink in all its computers. Without power a lot of devices will not work, including flash drives. The organization behind FW promotion has been working to switch it, but Sony has been slow, and the rest of the industry too. I do see more 6 pin on desktops, but not on laptops.

It also hurts that Sony decided to call it "iLink", which muddies the message.

And then Microsoft has been poor in support. A bug in WinXP, and now poor support in Vista, of course it looks bad.

It is up to Apple to advertise FW, and use it.

Why Apple does not promote its own technology is a mystery. Especially since it can make profits off of it the more it is used.

 

[FF_productions]

I'll take it to my grave, firewire is a much better interface than USB, it's just the fact that every device you'll find is USB, USB drives, USB printers, USB this, USB that.

Long Live Firewire.

 

[FX120]

If you are saying the group needs to promote it more and correctly, you are right.

Sony caused the trouble by installing the no-power 4 pin iLink in all its computers. Without power a lot of devices will not work, including flash drives. The organization behind FW promotion has been working to switch it, but Sony has been slow, and the rest of the industry too. I do see more 6 pin on desktops, but not on laptops.

It also hurts that Sony decided to call it "iLink", which muddies the message.

And then Microsoft has been poor in support. A bug in WinXP, and now poor support in Vista, of course it looks bad.

It is up to Apple to advertise FW, and use it.

Why Apple does not promote its own technology is a mystery. Especially since it can make profits off of it the more it is used.

I am saying that it is probably too late now. USB is so widespread and so standard, when people think about plugging in something to their computer, they think USB. Now that the only consumer-level gear that used Firewire has moved on to USB (camcorders), there is no reason for the average consumer to even consider firewire.

It's the same reason that the iPod will continue to have market dominance, it's so widespread, when people think portable music player, iPod comes to mind first. It doesn't matter if there are better players out there that have more features, because there are right now, but the iPod will still have the market dominance.

 

[marbles]

Anyone see any good USB audio interfaces ? any one ?..... looks like I might need one .

I've not been able to find USB audio interface as good as the firewire ones,

help.

 

[PracticalMac]

I am saying that it is probably too late now. USB is so widespread and so standard, when people think about plugging in something to their computer, they think USB. Now that the only consumer-level gear that used Firewire has moved on to USB (camcorders), there is no reason for the average consumer to even consider firewire.

I am not blind to the facts, but I am not calling it FW dead either (ask me in 4Q/2010).

And I think it is disingenuous to say "average" does not mean they need FW, as quite a number have posted they want an "average" MacBook with FireWire.

 

[PilotJulius]

Firewire

Why is firewire becoming obsolete (or not avail on newer equipment) when it is faster than USB?

 

[Amdahl]

Why is firewire becoming obsolete (or not avail on newer equipment) when it is faster than USB?

I'm sure it is the cost. If the gadget can work mostly as good on USB, as on FireWire, why include FireWire?

I prefer FireWire myself, since it is much faster, but these are the things that happen.

Macs used to have primarily SCSI hard drives, and then they went to IDE. Same situation; eventually, the inferior product narrows the gap.

Say, how is that Windows 7 beta looking?