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tundrabuggy

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2009
71
0
Any discussion of the value of Thunderbolt is moot at this point since there are no peripherals that use Thunderbolt (other than the Apple Cinema Display monitors that can use the Thunderbolt in lieu of Mini DisplayPort). If and when the Thunderbolt-connected drives from LaCie and Promise actually ship later this year, we can discuss further at that point. Until then, HP's decision to forgo the adoption of Thunderbolt is spot on.

Wrong. HP's decision is short-sighted. This is why Apple is so far ahead of the competition.
 

JayMBP

macrumors regular
Apr 25, 2011
152
21
Surrey, BC
I think TB should try to focus on something. USB3 is focused on replacing (eventually) all USB devices. Its bandwidth will satisfy most of peripherals that USB has been using all along.

If TB is trying to be consumer friendly, Intel should push harder. Just because it's not including (yet) into its chipset design doesn't mean it's a clear sign of its stance on TB/USB3.

USB3 controllers are dirt cheap. A PCI-E based USB3 card can be had for less than $20 on wholesale. A TB controller (the chip only) from what I read is much more expensive making peripheral makers less willingly to adapt such technology. Sure Apple has a huge base of followers, but it still accounts a very small portion of users worldwide. This along makes USB3 more appealing to companies.

TB is a great technology, but that along won't push it to success. Money talks, and TB is giving very little voice.
 

sladey

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2008
151
23
Sydney, Australia
i am sorry, but i still don't get it. Why do we Need thunderbolt again? to Backup Faster? for video cutting? for the display? well, the backup is slow because time machine is slow. in most cases it is done wirelessly - no need for thunderbolt. video cutting? isn't it all going away from bluray and moving to compact codecs and online Internet? no need for thunderbolt (USB works fine here). so we need it for the display? for some strange reason even via produces a very good picture on my monitor! no need for thunderbolt.

I guess apple wants to use it, so they add it. i don't need thunderbolt. I would be more happy if they'd lower the prices, or start with more designs for their machines again (go to the university and everyone has the same boring silver MacBook).

Some people want thunderbolt for extra speed, just like some people want faster internet to download all their [body painting] photos and videos... ;)
 

tundrabuggy

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2009
71
0
i am sorry, but i still don't get it. Why do we Need thunderbolt again? to Backup Faster? for video cutting? for the display? well, the backup is slow because time machine is slow. in most cases it is done wirelessly - no need for thunderbolt. video cutting? isn't it all going away from bluray and moving to compact codecs and online Internet? no need for thunderbolt (USB works fine here). so we need it for the display? for some strange reason even via produces a very good picture on my monitor! no need for thunderbolt.

I guess apple wants to use it, so they add it. i don't need thunderbolt. I would be more happy if they'd lower the prices, or start with more designs for their machines again (go to the university and everyone has the same boring silver MacBook).

Sounds like a PC is the best choice for you! Apple should lower their prices?? Hey, so should Ferrari...... then they would sell like hot-cakes. We don't need that fast engine, speed limit is 65mph over here. Dump the big engine and lower the price. Thats the mentality correct? I'm glad Jobs is making the big decisions.
 

TMar

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2008
1,679
1
Ky
Wrong. HP's decision is short-sighted. This is why Apple is so far ahead of the competition.

Short sighted? How often does Apple update their computers again? By the time there is a healthy market of TB peripherals Apple with be refreshing machines and the same people who will really use TB will be wanting to upgrade. HP knows there is no market for it and by time there is a market, people buying computers now will be looking for an upgrade. Hard to be short sighted when so many do ~yearly refreshes.
 

frankk

macrumors member
Mar 23, 2011
37
5
I hope that thunderbolt does fail, fire wire was/is always more of a pain in the ass than it is/was useful.

Well if the comparison is being able to daisy chain, bring it on. I loved my old Firewire devices, they were way faster than any USB at the time (at least the ones on my Mac) and I loved plugging in one cable and getting 3-4 devices up and running on my lap top rather than the mess of cords I have now.
 

tundrabuggy

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2009
71
0
I hope that thunderbolt does fail, fire wire was/is always more of a pain in the ass than it is/was useful.

Standards are a good thing as long as the standards work and USB is great, I have a hard time imagining the need for more speed than USB 3.0 .

Wow, you sound like a true visionary.....like that Steve Balmer guy!
Who said we would never need more than 64K of RAM?
 

TMar

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2008
1,679
1
Ky
Wow, you sound like a true visionary.....like that Steve Balmer guy!
Who said we would never need more than 64K of RAM?

And who said no one would every want anything bigger then a 15" monitor? Stupid blanket statements are made all the time.
 

EatSleepMac

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2011
20
0
New York
thunderbolt drive

Just picked up a 2011 Macbook Pro and I'm wondering if there's any external hard drives that are supported by thunderbolt? I put a 128gig ssd inside my MBP but i need an external drive for the crazy amounts of media I have, also it'd be nice to have a backup drive.
 

tundrabuggy

macrumors member
Jul 16, 2009
71
0
Short sighted? How often does Apple update their computers again? By the time there is a healthy market of TB peripherals Apple with be refreshing machines and the same people who will really use TB will be wanting to upgrade. HP knows there is no market for it and by time there is a market, people buying computers now will be looking for an upgrade. Hard to be short sighted when so many do ~yearly refreshes.

Definitely Short sighted, have you seen the list of big-name companies behind the technology?? Cannon just jumped aboard a few days ago as well. Its plain to see that HP will be left behind.
 

shawmanus

macrumors member
Mar 7, 2006
87
4
I am amazed people are criticizing HP for this decision. At this point its pointless. Also how many consumers even use USB 2.0 bandwidth. USB 3 with 5Gbps and backward compatibility is enough for 99.99%. Plus there are tons of peripherals that support USB3.

I think its Apple which needs to add USB3, HDMI and Blu Ray to MBP/Imac. These are fundamental stuff that are used heavily today.
 

locust76

macrumors 6502a
Jan 23, 2009
688
90
For what possible reason would you want to go with the slower standard? Not for performance sake.

Cheaper? Possibly.
Stick it to Apple? Maybe.
Planned obsolescence? Probably.

Licensing costs?
Compatibility?
Immediate practicality?
 

jboy123

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2011
15
0
Skip HP

Hp is just a computer manufacturer. You have to go above them and hit the people who makes the components. They need to get Western Digital, Hitachi, MSI, Bio-Star, AMD, and ASUS on board if they want to sale thunderbolt. Otherwise it will just end up being display port 2.0.

I like apple but they have to realize with only 10% of the computers no one is going to go out of their way to make some hardware that will only work on those machine. Look at display port. No one in the industry uses it but Apple, For people with macs if they want to use a non mac monitor they have to purchase adopters.
 

TMar

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2008
1,679
1
Ky
Definitely Short sighted, have you seen the list of big-name companies behind the technology?? Cannon just jumped aboard a few days ago as well. Its plain to see that HP will be left behind.

Since you missed the obvious point, when your they going to ship products? I'm going to sell you a car now that can run on this special fuel, increasing power and efficiency but 75% at 1/3 the price gasoline. The only catch is that the fuel isn't going to be readily available for 4 years (average time people keep their vehicles before they upgrade) would you go ahead and buy it now or what until you can easily get the fuel?

There will NOT be a HEALTHY market for peripherals for 2+ years. People buying computers now will be about ready for an upgrade by that time. There is absolutely no value in adding for people looking to buy a computer right now.
 

layte

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2008
205
13
Wait. HP makes something besides printers?
I'd wager good money that you use a service running on HP equipment every single day.

For example.
HP NonStop servers satisfy customer needs in many ways, supporting an impressive number of companies with a wide variety of applications and solutions within a range of industries.

NonStop servers process the overwhelming majority of credit card, automated teller machine (ATM), and securities transactions that take place every day. The world’s leading enterprises rely on NonStop servers, including 106 of 120 of the largest stock and commodity exchanges and 135 of the world’s public telephone companies, to name just a few.
 

TMar

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2008
1,679
1
Ky
I am amazed people are criticizing HP for this decision. At this point its pointless. Also how many consumers even use USB 2.0 bandwidth. USB 3 with 5Gbps and backward compatibility is enough for 99.99%. Plus there are tons of peripherals that support USB3.

I think its Apple which needs to add USB3, HDMI and Blu Ray to MBP/Imac. These are fundamental stuff that are used heavily today.

No doubt that Apple will add USB 3 when they stat shipping ivy bridge machines, as for HDMI and blu ray. Blu Ray is about a 50-50% while I would put HDMI at about .05% chance. They have TB for display, doubt they see much need for HDMI.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Once again, the chicken / egg paradox slows adoption.

Logic failure. The chicken has arrived. Apple broke the paradox. Eggs will be on their way. If HP doesn't want to innovate, that is their business.


No doubt that Apple will add USB 3 when they stat shipping ivy bridge machines, as for HDMI and blu ray. Blu Ray is about a 50-50% while I would put HDMI at about .05% chance. They have TB for display, doubt they see much need for HDMI.

Not a chance for USB 3. It has no advantages at all compared to Thunderbolt.


Second, just because consumer devices don’t saturate a Thunderbolt connection now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future (they will).

What an argument anyway. I'd love a connection that no peripherals can saturate.

Would be nice if someone could explain what "two 10 Gbit channels" per Thunderbolt connector actually means. My understanding is up to 1.25 GByte per second from Mac to all peripherals, and up to 1.25 GByte per second from all peripherals to Mac. There is one peripheral (monitor) with all data going one direction, so you should be able to _read_ 1.25 GByte/sec from hard drives, but write speed would be less.
 
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johneaston

macrumors regular
Dec 28, 2010
233
0
All my current hard drives have USB, my PVR has USB, my printer, TV, car and even DAB radio have USB.

Nothing I own, or can buy, has Thunderbolt, so I can see why it has no value. I agree with HP.
 

sunspot42

macrumors regular
Aug 7, 2007
121
3
When Apple Starts Including TB On iPhones, iPads & iPods

When Apple starts including Thunderbolt on iPhones, iPads and iPods - allowing folks to sync in seconds - HP's machines will look like the junk they typically are.

Thunderbolt also has the enormous advantage of allowing machines with light form factors - like the iMacs, Mac Mini and laptops - access to desktop-class peripherals, such as powerful external graphics cards and high-speed RAID arrays. That'll be very appealing for millions of users.

I suspect that thanks in part to Thunderbolt the desktop PC as we've known it will largely go extinct over the next five years. It'll be replaced by smartphones, tablets and laptops capable of accessing what we currently think of as desktop-class hardware via Thunderbolt as-needed.

HP, as usual, is being caught with its pants down.
 

Skika

macrumors 68030
Mar 11, 2009
2,999
1,246
According to Lauwaert, everone seems to be content with USB 3.0 so they don't see the value of including Thunderbolt in their desktop machines.

Lol what an argument.
 

jboy123

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2011
15
0
When Apple starts including Thunderbolt on iPhones, iPads and iPods - allowing folks to sync in seconds - HP's machines will look like the junk they typically are.

Thunderbolt also has the enormous advantage of allowing machines with light form factors - like the iMacs, Mac Mini and laptops - access to desktop-class peripherals, such as powerful external graphics cards and high-speed RAID arrays. That'll be very appealing for millions of users.

I suspect that thanks in part to Thunderbolt the desktop PC as we've known it will largely go extinct over the next five years. It'll be replaced by smartphones, tablets and laptops capable of accessing what we currently think of as desktop-class hardware via Thunderbolt as-needed.

HP, as usual, is being caught with its pants down.

Desktops will never disappear. Go over to newegg.com you will see just how big of an industry Desktop computers still have. People will always want to play games on their computers, Video editing and Bench marking. Most of the computer innovation in computers comes from Desktops first. Plus it is where most of the Competition with CPUs and GPUs take place.
 

iPhysicist

macrumors 65816
Nov 9, 2009
1,343
1,004
Dresden
Hopefully iOS Devices will soon go TB. This would boost TB a lot. For those who do not (yet) have it there should be an USB alternative.

Time Machine Backups are already mentioned. Why do I need SATA III with SSDs everywhere when my backup device is slowed down by the connector?

I think HP fears the licensing costs (other than Intel Motherboard vendors have to pay for it, or am I mistaken?) and want to put some pressure on Intel to lower its costs. This move seems to be a tactical one.

Mac User will use TB and everyone processing media is hoping industry adopts it. Just take a look at musicians who used FW800 to connect their recording equipment or movie makers with huge 1080p files.

There will be TB in future peripheral equipment and every Computer Tech Company who does not implement it will lose some margin to apple and those who have it.
 

Heilage

macrumors 68030
May 1, 2009
2,592
0
I love Thunderbolt, I think it will be great once the products start hitting the shelves. Why? Thunderbolt is exactly what you make it. Thunderbolt isn't really a protocol, it's a fast external pipeline to put protocols on. Why is that good? It can be anything. Need eSATA? Plug an eSATA adaptor into the TB port. Heck, you can even put full-fledged PCIe expansion cards in external housings and run them off Thunderbolt (graphics card only to a lesser degree, more interesting for storage, networking and multi-monitor solutions).

How is that not cool?
 

layte

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2008
205
13
When Apple starts including Thunderbolt on iPhones, iPads and iPods - allowing folks to sync in seconds - HP's machines will look like the junk they typically are.

People actually think the reason for slow sync speeds is because of USB. Oh my lol :eek: The speed that the data is transferred at is nowhere near the capacity of USB2, sticking a TB port on iDevices will make no difference to sync times until Apple use much faster flash ROM in their products.
 

shawmanus

macrumors member
Mar 7, 2006
87
4
Logic failure. The chicken has arrived. Apple broke the paradox. Eggs will be on their way. If HP doesn't want to innovate, that is their business.




Not a chance for USB 3. It has no advantages at all compared to Thunderbolt.

its backward compatible with USB 2. Over 10 times faster which is sufficient for 99% of peripherals including SSD. Plus there are thousands of peripherals for USB2/3. Do you think 99.9% customers care for TB speeds at all.

I am not saying TB should not exist. But not at the cost of USB3/HDMI. I want to have the ability to connect my laptop to my HDTV without buying another adapter. Almost every laptop releasing these days support hdmi. Apple should also do that. Blu Ray is beneficial considering its price has gone down big time and there is noticible quaity improvement compared to DVD.
 
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