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View Full Version : Firewire wanna be



spinner
Sep 30, 2002, 05:26 PM
Looks like USB is trying to play catch up with Firewire again. :rolleyes:

Click (http://news.com.com/2100-1040-960014.html)


sparkleytone
Sep 30, 2002, 05:28 PM
bah.

they are having to modify a "standard" in order to finally get features that firewire has had all along.
cr2sh
Sep 30, 2002, 05:42 PM
the funniest thing about the article is this line:

"The technology is also expected to be used in cell phones and MP3 players. "

Uh.... No?
Thats not technology, thats archaic nonsense.
Chisholm
Sep 30, 2002, 06:19 PM
I'm just looking forward to FireWire2. Its gonna' dust everything!
oldMac
Sep 30, 2002, 07:38 PM
Hate to say it, but it looks like USB 2 is becoming far more prolific than Firewire. The fact is that USB 2 is cheaper and for most users, there isn't much of a perceived performance difference.

My predictions:

1) Firewire will be relegated to high-end niche applications within 2 years.
2) USB 2 will become a defacto standard in the same time frame

Final prediction:

Apple's clinging to FireWire will cause them to be at least a year late to the USB 2 party, leaving Apple consumers to suffer while PCs get all the good peripherals.
medea
Sep 30, 2002, 07:44 PM
I disagree with Oldmac, USB2 has plenty of disadvantages so I think it would a bad move to shift to USB2. PC users might need a faster option than USB but Apple users already have it and it's much more reliable.
P-Worm
Sep 30, 2002, 09:36 PM
Is it true that USB 2 doesn't provide power at the same time. Because if it is that sucks. That's just another thing that makes the iPod so cool.

P-Worm
G4scott
Sep 30, 2002, 11:50 PM
USB sucks. It's good for mice, keyboards, and other small bandwidth devices. USB 2 is for really fast mice and keyboards :rolleyes:

USB is a serial bus... It may be cheaper to put into a device, but then for some devices like hard drives, you need a power supply where firewire wouldn't. Hopefully Firewire2 will mop the floors with USB2...

Another reason why USB sucks: It's made by intel :p

Actually, the problem that I have with USB, is that it's like hooking up a hard drive with an old serial port, where firewire most resembles scsi.
funkywhat2
Oct 2, 2002, 09:11 PM
Originally posted by G4scott
USB sucks. It's good for mice, keyboards, and other small bandwidth devices. USB 2 is for really fast mice and keyboards :rolleyes:

USB is a serial bus... It may be cheaper to put into a device, but then for some devices like hard drives, you need a power supply where firewire wouldn't. Hopefully Firewire2 will mop the floors with USB2...

Another reason why USB sucks: It's made by intel :p

Actually, the problem that I have with USB, is that it's like hooking up a hard drive with an old serial port, where firewire most resembles scsi.

isn't firewire a serial standard too? it just carries power, as well as data.
job
Oct 2, 2002, 09:14 PM
I though Firewire was completely new, not based off of any old legacy tech..
funkywhat2
Oct 2, 2002, 09:46 PM
most new standards are...(i think)
dongmin
Oct 2, 2002, 10:18 PM
Firewire is amazing; it's one of the best technologies to come out of Apple (much better than SCSI). But it's suffering the same fate as many Apple technologies: the lack of marketing and slowness of adoption.

I'm starting to lose confidence in the future of firewire. Firewire hasn't made anywhere near the kinds of market strides I expected and hoped it would.
job
Oct 2, 2002, 10:22 PM
Originally posted by dongmin

I'm starting to lose confidence in the future of firewire. Firewire hasn't made anywhere near the kinds of market strides I expected and hoped it would.

I dunno about that. I've seen countless peripherials (Creative) and desktop and laptop PCs with Firewire ports. They call it by the industry name IEEE 1394, but it's still Firewire. :p
mattevil
Oct 2, 2002, 11:21 PM
my old g4 was hit by lightning the other week. everything but my usb hub and my firewire cd burner was hooked into a surge protector.The lightning took out my usb scanner ,printer, and the usb port in my computer itself. bothe the usb hub hub and my cd burner had ground plugs and hooked to the same outlet yet my firewire drive came out unscathed. that is why i love firewire either that or i hate usb for being such a good cinductor.
backspinner
Oct 3, 2002, 07:32 AM
From the developer point of view is USB2 far better supported than FireWire. It's almost impossible to get simple and easy support for developing FireWire peripherals. The low level is good documented, but the high level and application layer software is difficult to master.

FireWire is only suitable for developers with high volume and enough money. Chipsets for FireWire are twice the price of the USB chipsets and twice the board area as well. And the fee for a vendor identifier is four times more expensive...

I bet that USB2 will find a broader acceptance very soon. Well, at least I like it!
sparkleytone
Oct 3, 2002, 01:32 PM
i believe that the royalties for firewire have been significantly diminished if not completely done away with by now. i do know that the Firewire SDK is public source for the taking. So your point is basically lost.
e-coli
Oct 3, 2002, 08:23 PM
Originally posted by dongmin
I'm starting to lose confidence in the future of firewire. Firewire hasn't made anywhere near the kinds of market strides I expected and hoped it would.

I have yet to see a camcorder with a USB or serial port. Firewire isn't going anywhere.

It amazes me that all camcorders have Firewire, but most PC's don't. i guess that means most PC users arren't able to import or edit their movies.