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How many user really want FireWire on new MacBooks?

Do you really need FireWire on regular MacBooks?

  • Total voters
    467
D

dizzy13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
317
0
Miami
Ok, I think the move to remove FireWire on the low end MacBooks is a good thing because the target audience doesn't need it. I assume there are a few people out there that would like to edit videos on a system that is underpowered for that task compared to the Pro, but would like to see what type of percent that is on these forums.

PS. This is a public poll
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
Target audience == consumers
consumers == miniDV
miniDV == FireWire
-----------------------------------
Target audience == FireWire
 
Donar

Donar

macrumors 6502
Jul 12, 2008
382
70
Germany
I voted yes. I admit that i do not really need it, but it would be really nice to have.

I will not be able to use my FireDTV (Sat Tuner) without Firewire. I have to rely on USB2 for Data Transfer to my external Terabyte HardDisks - from my experience Firewire is faster and does not take resources (or not much) from the host. If available space had been a concern for Apple not including a Firewire port they could have opted for the mini Firewire 400 (4 pin) Version. But it's all about "upselling" people to the MacBook Pro. :mad:
 
Batt

Batt

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2007
1,234
4
Syracuse, NY
Remember when Apple dropped the floppy drive? It was (if you were buying the whining) the first sign of the Apocalypse. Do you miss it? Do you even know what a floppy drive is?
 
D

dizzy13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
317
0
Miami
Batt said:
Remember when Apple dropped the floppy drive? It was (if you were buying the whining) the first sign of the Apocalypse. Do you miss it? Do you even know what a floppy drive is?
Click to expand...

Apple always seems to be ahead of the curve on these types of things so that's probably why there is more complaints / resistance.

I mean the air doesn't even have an optical drive anymore. In 5-10 years the cd drive will be similar to floppy with most software being delivered over the network/internet. With the price of usb flash drives dropping so fast I could even see "hard copies" of programs being sold with these instead of cds or dvds.
 
S

sfh

macrumors regular
May 27, 2008
240
0
Sacramento CA
Mb firewire

You don't need it for a macbook... i can't believe that people are whining so much. If firewire is such a huge part of what you do BUY THE PRO! I'm sorry but USB 2.0 is faster to transfer files and with the exception of some camcorders virtually every other piece of hardware can be purchased sans firewire. ...

DONT give me the junk about "...i have all this equipment ..." your current setup will not explode just because a new model came out, and nobody has a gun to your head making you upgrade.
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
Batt said:
Remember when Apple dropped the floppy drive? It was (if you were buying the whining) the first sign of the Apocalypse. Do you miss it? Do you even know what a floppy drive is?
Click to expand...

Floppy drives were obsolete and you could get a USB drive if you really needed it.

FireWire equipment is by no means obsolete and compatibility cannot be added to the MacBook.

Totally opposed situations. The floppy argument is completely bogus.
 
mknawabi

mknawabi

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2006
318
1
Irvine, CA
I want it, because I need it. I have an analog 5.1 speaker system (It's klipsch, and it has 470 watts, so its not some POS system) and because there is no firewire port, i don't have a simple way of plugging in the system

ouch.
 
Macky-Mac

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,501
2,552
I have 3 external drives that are Firewire only so the lack of Firewire is a bit of an issue.... especially since it's time to replace that old iBook I have.
 
Batt

Batt

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2007
1,234
4
Syracuse, NY
cube said:
Floppy drives were obsolete and you could get a USB drive if you really needed it.

FireWire equipment is by no means obsolete and compatibility cannot be added to the MacBook.

Totally opposed situations. The floppy argument is completely bogus.
Click to expand...

FireWire equipment typically also includes USB compatibility.
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
I have 2 FireWire TV tuners (one of them also analog video converter), and besides not having a need to replace them, elgato does not make any new ones with hardware compression.
 
D

dizzy13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
317
0
Miami
cube said:
I am sick of this argument. So, for access to a $5 piece of CONSUMER connectivity, you have to spend $2000 ($700 more) on a PRO model?
Click to expand...

That is one argument, but the bigger one is that MOST consumer level electronics in the past 5 years offer both FireWire and USB.

And hey, maybe we will start to see the C version of firewire which can run over Ethernet. So you could buy a FireWire to Ethernet adapter to work around this limitation if you have an older external device.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire#FireWire_S800T_.28IEEE_1394c-2006.29
 
T

tekmoe

macrumors 68000
Feb 12, 2005
1,726
551
The topic and the poll are worded differently. 'Want' and 'Need' are two entirely different things.

Anyways, I voted no because I do not 'need' firewire as I have no devices that use it. I would have liked to have it but it did not stop me from purchasing my new MacBook 2.4.
 
Batt

Batt

macrumors 65816
Dec 17, 2007
1,234
4
Syracuse, NY
cube said:
FireWire equipment == read millions of perfectly good miniDV cameras that connect digitally only via FireWire
Click to expand...

OK, I feel your pain. I agree dropping FireWire support is a mistake. But in my original post about the floppy, my point was that all the crying and gnashing of teeth didn't bring back the floppy drive and isn't likely to bring back FireWire, either.
 
A

apearlman

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2007
187
0
Red Hook, NY
No, really, I still use Firewire.

Batt said:
FireWire equipment typically also includes USB compatibility.
Click to expand...

Let's be clear:
My Firewire DV camcorder doesn't have USB.
My Firewire external HDD doesn't have USB.
Firewire target disk mode doesn't work with USB.
Some people still have iPods that connect via Firewire.

Why are some people on these boards trying to convince me that I don't need Firewire anymore?
 
N

nick9191

macrumors 68040
Feb 17, 2008
3,365
189
Britain
Batt said:
Remember when Apple dropped the floppy drive? It was (if you were buying the whining) the first sign of the Apocalypse. Do you miss it? Do you even know what a floppy drive is?
Click to expand...

Except that Floppy drives were useless pieces of crap compared to thumb drives and CD's.

Why should Firewire lose to USB when Firewire is technically and real world superior in every way shape and form.

Yeah thats progress.
 
D

dL.

macrumors 6502
Nov 5, 2007
297
33
I don't use Firewire. I wish Steve gave me 3 USB instead of 2 USB + 1 Firewire.

dL
 
C

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
Batt said:
OK, I feel your pain. I agree dropping FireWire support is a mistake. But in my original post about the floppy, my point was that all the crying and gnashing of teeth didn't bring back the floppy drive and isn't likely to bring back FireWire, either.
Click to expand...

I repeat, you can't compare:

Floppy drives were obsolete and you could get a USB drive if you really needed it.

FireWire equipment is by no means obsolete and compatibility cannot be added to the MacBook.

Totally opposed situations. The floppy argument is completely bogus.
Click to expand...
 
I

isaacc7

macrumors regular
Aug 31, 2004
104
0
dizzy13 said:
Ok, I think the move to remove FireWire on the low end MacBooks is a good thing because the target audience doesn't need it. I assume there are a few people out there that would like to edit videos on a system that is underpowered for that task compared to the Pro, but would like to see what type of percent that is on these forums.

PS. This is a public poll
Click to expand...

Actually, it doesn't make any sense because while many people that will buy this machine don't need it, there will be a large number of people that can't use it. No one will buy the machine because it is missing a firewire port. There are many people that will not buy this machine because it lacks the port.

Isaac
 
D

dizzy13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 9, 2008
317
0
Miami
nick9191 said:
Why should Firewire lose to USB when Firewire is technically and real world superior in every way shape and form.

Yeah thats progress.
Click to expand...

This is just how the real world works. Remember betamax vs vhs? Me either. But I believe betamax was technically a bit better but still lost out to vhs b/c of its wide adoption and ease of use.

It went differently between HDDVD and bluray where the newer and superior technology won out even though it was a whole new standard compared to the easy upgrade path of HDDVD, but it doesn't always work out this way.
 
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