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Are We Not Giving Apple Enough Credit Here With the Firewire Issue?

K

kubricks

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 15, 2008
48
0
The omission of firewire is not going down well. Pro audio/video forums are near unanimous in their disgruntlement. The official Apple forums have a thread with around 700 posts, almost all are showing disgust at the move. No one can give a logical or reasonable explanation about this omission.

Could Apple be this incredibly stupid? To affect numerous users, even manufacturers (cutting off a HUGE chunk of possible users who can no longer purchase firewire solutions for their computers)? I'm not sure.

This is pure speculation but there have been a few (very few and unconfirmed of course) grumblings on the internet that Apple is preparing firewire over ethernet for Snow Leopard. Would Apple really do such a brazen thing like ****ing over so many users without having a backdoor (firewire over ethernet) in the event that the removal of firewire caused a backlash?

Surely they would retain an ace up their sleeve? Is this wishful thinking? I wish Apple would comment. If Apple just came out and said that this is in the pipe sometime down the road, they'd sell thousands upon thousands of these new Macs in a second. And if not, at least we would have a better idea of what hardware and computers we should be choosing or saving up for.
 
W

wesleyJ

macrumors member
Jun 6, 2004
33
0
Jobs made it "very clear" that pro users are the only one's who need firewire, that's why they can only be found on the Macbook Pro. :rolleyes:
 
Le Big Mac

Le Big Mac

macrumors 68030
Jan 7, 2003
2,809
378
Washington, DC
I doubt there's any "backdoor" issue. I think Apple did plenty of surveys and decided FW was not a big deal to most entry level users, dropping it would not harm sales, and people who wanted it would buy "pro" equipment.
 
J

JBazz

macrumors 6502
Apr 14, 2006
491
2
I never used my firewire with the exception of target disc mode for transfering stuff to an old iMac (which I have now sold).
 
CyberBob859

CyberBob859

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2007
584
442
Apple shouldn't be given ANY credit...

Apple came out of the blue and decided that FireWire is a professional feature now. Even though previous generation MacBooks and Minis - designed for the consumer - had FireWire built-in. This allowed the CUSTOMER to determine how they wanted to use their machine, and what equipment they can hook up to it.

What benefit of the doubt can you give them? MacBook FireWire users now have to pay a "tax" to Apple if they want to upgrade their machines to Apple's latest.

So, what's next? Bluetooth? The Kensington Lock? Hey, only "pros" pair their Bluetooth devices, and only "pros" need to protect their more expensive equipment with a lock, right?

They shouldn't try to differentiate the product line by removing features from the MB and give it to the MBP only. The biggest problem with this announcement is that the MBP wasn't innovative enough, and an artificial differentiation had to occur by removing Firewire from the MacBook.

It's not the same Apple anymore.
 
drj434343

drj434343

macrumors member
Jan 11, 2006
89
0
Portland, OR
CyberBob859 said:
They shouldn't try to differentiate the product line by removing features from the MB and give it to the MBP only. The biggest problem with this announcement is that the MBP wasn't innovative enough, and an artificial differentiation had to occur by removing Firewire from the MacBook.

It's not the same Apple anymore.
Click to expand...

I agree with your underlined assertion. It became so painfully clear that Apple was creating artificial differentiation between the two lines, that I switched from a MBP to a new MB in my last purchase. My dismay started when I realized that they use the same type of cheap TN LCD panels in both the MBP and MB. I couldn't figure out what my extra $800 was going for anymore, so Apple lost a much higher margin purchase from me.
 
B

bektravels

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2007
103
0
Australia
Yeah, I would've cared about Firewire 3 years ago, when I used it a lot... but I just don't have anything that connects with Firewire anymore. I know not everyone is in the same boat on this, but I don't really have a beef with the lack of it in the new MB.
 
LethalWolfe

LethalWolfe

macrumors G3
Jan 11, 2002
9,370
124
Los Angeles
Le Big Mac said:
I doubt there's any "backdoor" issue. I think Apple did plenty of surveys and decided FW was not a big deal to most entry level users, dropping it would not harm sales, and people who wanted it would buy "pro" equipment.
Click to expand...
Just like Apple did lots of surveys and found out no one liked the 12" PB and that's why they killed it, right?:D



Lethal
 
E

EnderTW

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2007
724
277
The above poster said it exactly.

It's simple marketing folks.

The MB now has the same aesthetics as the MBP, something that made people buy the MBP. I can tell you many who opted out of the MB just because it wasn't aluminum.

Apple knew that when it created the alum mb it needed more to distinguish the pro line from it's regular line.

The problem in the way they did it was they "nerfed" the mb, to artificially create demand for the MBP.

Apple in my eyes did the wrong move. btw, i am typing this on my new mb. I obviously didnt care but they did do the wrong thing.

You don't see microsoft nerfing windows xp when vista came out. Now, you see applications that don't even run on 10.3. Apple has a different strategy which is quite sad. They are protecting their future by hindering their past.
 
B

butterfly0fdoom

macrumors 6502a
Oct 17, 2007
847
0
Camp Snoopy
CyberBob859 said:
So, what's next? Bluetooth? The Kensington Lock? Hey, only "pros" pair their Bluetooth devices, and only "pros" need to protect their more expensive equipment with a lock, right?
Click to expand...

Unlikely (in regards to the K-slot). If you look at the MB teardown, the K-slot design is part of why there's no space for FW.
 
T

theholydonkey

macrumors newbie
Jul 10, 2008
12
0
Lack of firewire was a big deal for me (both my external desk-top drives are firewire), and I've rescued laptops a couple of times using target disc more, however, I have a SATA 2.5" external HD enclosure and figure that if I have issues with my new MacBook then I can whip the drive out, stick it in the enclosure then use it as an external HD to carry out any repairs. Hopefully I won't need to do that!

The only other thing that's bugging me is that I got the 2.0 ghz model and then stuck a 250 GB drive in it. In low light the keyboard is quite difficult to see with the black keys. I have a week to decide whether to take it back to the Apple Store to trade it for a 2.4 ghz model - but is it worth it for a slight speed hike and a lighty-up keyboard?
 
gkarris

gkarris

macrumors G3
Dec 31, 2004
8,301
1,061
"No escape from Reality...”
EnderTW said:
The above poster said it exactly.

It's simple marketing folks.

The MB now has the same aesthetics as the MBP, something that made people buy the MBP. I can tell you many who opted out of the MB just because it wasn't aluminum.

Apple knew that when it created the alum mb it needed more to distinguish the pro line from it's regular line.

The problem in the way they did it was they "nerfed" the mb, to artificially create demand for the MBP.

Apple in my eyes did the wrong move. btw, i am typing this on my new mb. I obviously didnt care but they did do the wrong thing.

You don't see microsoft nerfing windows xp when vista came out. Now, you see applications that don't even run on 10.3. Apple has a different strategy which is quite sad. They are protecting their future by hindering their past.
Click to expand...

Now known as "Blue Ocean Strategy", practiced also my Southwest, Nintendo, and now Apple.

Discussed on this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6476256/
 
L

lasuther

macrumors 6502a
Feb 13, 2004
670
0
Grand Haven, Michigan
kubricks said:
Would Apple really do such a brazen thing like ****ing over so many users without having a backdoor (firewire over ethernet) in the event that the removal of firewire caused a backlash?
Click to expand...

Apple has a $999 MacBook with Firewire and all the MacBook Pros have Firewire. Its not like people who need FW can't get it on Apple Laptops.

The last device I had that used FW was a iPod Mini. This issue reminds me a lot of when Apple dropped FW from iPods. There was a huge outcry, people complained about how using USB would be horrible. Petitions were written. Boycotts were threatened. In the end, people just moved on.

Apple is probably right that most MacBook users will live without FW. And if someone needs FW, they have laptop options to get it. For goodness sake, there are people gladly spending $300 to upgrade to the backlit keyboard. I’m sure the few people who have devices that need FW and can’t use USB will buy the base MacBook or a MacBook Pro.

In the end, I would expect Apple to lose about the same amount of customers who stopped buying iPods when they dropped FW.
 
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