The pricing is insulting. You've got $20 in electronic chips and $15 in packaging and they want how much?
Sure, and I'd love to see browser-based access too, but it ain't happening. iMessage is there to sell Apple devices, unfortunately, so I really don't see them extending their free messaging to Android users, do you?Apple would have made Android/Windows 8/Blackberry apps so that I could send free text messages to my friends, like KakaoTalk.
The pricing is insulting. You've got $20 in electronic chips and $15 in packaging and they want how much?
Blunderbolt.
I'm fairly certain TB has the bandwidth to push a 27" retina display. I remember reading somewhere that it could push 2 4K screens. Fairly certain...not positive.
The problem is that many of the TB equipped MBA/MBP only have either pathetically slow USB 2.0 or FW800 to fall back on.
For a given generation of HD, usually the higher platter speed=higher transfer rates. That said, the majority of 2012 5400rpm hard drives easily exceed USB 2.0 transfer rates almost two-fold. So even 5400rpm drives get a speed boost from TB/USB 3.0
The pricing is insulting. You've got $20 in electronic chips and $15 in packaging and they want how much?
In contrast to USB 3.0, Thunderbolt could, with only incremental improvements (read: more and faster PCIe lanes), easily replace PCI Express in all applications where "internal" isn't an obvious advantage. As an example, imagine a rack unit with an integrated management controller, redundant power, and port replication for one or more "Mac mini Pro" CPUs connected via a convenient, front-loading "warm-swap" mechanism. Now imagine this unit connected via Thunderbolt to rack-mounted Thunderbolt audio and/or video interfaces, "legacy" rack-mounted PCI express card cages to support existing high-end storage controllers and 10Gbps+ Ethernet interfaces, and possibly even additional, redundant CPU units.
Perhaps a pipe dream, but I'd love to see something along these lines as a replacement for the Mac Pro, with full- and minitower enclosures available as accessories.
I'm not sure that I completely understand your concept, but want to point out that T-Bolt is basically "external PCIe".
As such, since PCIe was designed as an internal peripheral bus, it doesn't lend itself to sharing among systems.
To oversimplify a bit - the CPUs are the "masters", and the devices are the "slaves". Connecting multiple "masters" to a T-Bolt chain would create a huge amount of additional complexity if it were even possible in the general case.
And, since it appears that none of the docking station companies have managed to handle the complexity of a single master - creating "a huge amount of additional complexity" doesn't seem like a good path to follow.
Not under Mountain Lion on Mid-2012 hardware (Macs). ML has obviously optimized USB 3.0 drivers (which support the UASP). Is this true? I do not know. If this is true, then USB 3.0 is hardware accelerated on a Mid-2012 Mac + ML, because:...so USB 3 doesn't get you much more than the inefficient CPU hogging protocol.
wikipedia.org said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_Attached_SCSI
USB 3.0 SuperSpeed host controller (xHCI) hardware support, no software overhead for out-of-order commands
...
USB 3 host controller (xHCI) provides hardware support for Streams
What are you talking about? FireWire 800 is sweet, my drives sound much better running even FireWire 400 than USB 2(smooth sounding writes not choppy), and FireWire 800 pretty much goes as fast as the drive so USB 3 doesn't get you much more than the inefficient CPU hogging protocol. Ask anyone in digital video, FireWire was a savior and thunderbolt is even more awesome. Just because the masses don't get it doesn't make it a failure.
It would cost more than just making a 'full' dock.create a modular dock. you purchase the base unit which would be a slim block, no thicker than 0.5" which will contain the logic board. you purchase the individual ports that you want, which are sold in modular blocks that snap onto the base unit. you want an HDMI port? then buy the HDMI module. if you want 3 USB 3.0 ports, you buy that module.
etc.
i don't know why a manufacturer hasn't done this already...
Huh?
What do you think grid computing is?
Or start a new Ivy Bridge Mac mini (base model) in the target disk modus (via Thunderbolt). This should give you four USB 3.0 interfaces. Waiting for the 2012 Mac mini...Why anyone would want to spend $400 for a hub is beyond me. Pick up a refub TBD for around $829 and get a n awesome screen and true docking station.
No, i'm blind.And did you see my sig?
Sad, but it is clearly time for a hasty retreat back to USB 3.0.
It would cost more than just making a 'full' dock.
The pricing is insulting. You've got $20 in electronic chips and $15 in packaging and they want how much?
Or start a new Ivy Bridge Mac mini (base model) in the target disk modus (via Thunderbolt). This should give you four USB 3.0 interfaces. Waiting for the 2012 Mac mini...
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No, i'm blind.