Big difference between Apple dropping the floppy disc (outdated tech) and dropping firewire. Firewire is BETTER tech than USB.
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How many user really want FireWire on new MacBooks?
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Big difference between Apple dropping the floppy disc (outdated tech) and dropping firewire. Firewire is BETTER tech than USB.
Agree.
I believe that part of the lack of demand for FW these days, is the switchers.
Those of us who have been Mac users for years, are spoiled with FW. On the PC side, FW has limited adoption. The most common is laptops with the 4 pin mini plug that does not provide power. So most new Mac users don't even miss FW. Unfortunately.
It's not just MiniDV cameras, but also portable recording interfaces (like the FireBox I just bought) and also Apple's own Target Disk Mode, and the ability to daisy-chain FW drives. The way I see it, it's not IF you need FireWire, but WHEN.
Firewire is definitely a need for me. I don't do a lot of video editing, although I have before. But the macbook has plenty of power for anything I do, but I have firewire HDs for backup, movies, an TV shows. My macbook only has one firewire port, so I have them daisy-chained. One of the drives (the one I happen to have a bootable tiger copy on) is firewire only, so having just usb would make one of my drives useless, and I have absolutely no need to spend $300+ extra just so I can use my hard drives.
I wanted it for my FireWire audio interface, but it has now become less relevant, because I found out that I can't connect it to two computers at once. At the moment the audio interface is connected to my desktop PC and I would be using the Macbook as a secondary computer with an external display and Synergy to share the keyboard and mouse. It would've been nice to have the FW audio interface play back the sounds from both computers but since that isn't happening and I loathe changing cables, FireWire is no longer that big an issue for me.
However, since Apple was generally one of the few manufacturers that embraced FW outside the audio interface and DV cam industry, it would've been nice if they at least crammed a FW400 port into the Macbook. I mean there's the Air for those who don't care about connectivity.
However, since Apple was generally one of the few manufacturers that embraced FW outside the audio interface and DV cam industry, it would've been nice if they at least crammed a FW400 port into the Macbook. I mean there's the Air for those who don't care about connectivity.
Having owned Macs for several years now I also own various FW hard drives and a FW connection only video camera. Not having FW means I have to buy new peripherals.
In the future I will not buy FW products, because one day I will buy a new MacBook. So, maybe the start of the demise of FW?
In the future I will not buy FW products, because one day I will buy a new MacBook. So, maybe the start of the demise of FW?
David Pogue laments the lack of Firewire on the new MacBook in his latest NYT piece.
He had the opportunity to speak to Steve Jobs about it and has not reported back with anything that can be considered as good news from his conversation with Mr. Jobs.
I've always thought Jobs had the knack of screwing things up for Apple's customers. I just love it when people say that Apple transitioned to USB with the iMac. IMO they didn't. Simply put, one day it wasn't there. The next day it was, and everything else was gone. Nice and tidy. PCI-X?? ADC?? Personality Cards?? Plain Talk?? Non-standard headphone Jacks??
I think it's time for the man to step down. A huge proportion of users are up in arms about this and they Apple hasn't formally declared anything one way or the other. Apple users have to make purchasing decisions every day. Wouldn't it be nice if they just communicated their plans for Firewire so that people can make better decisions? Oh yeah I forgot: "We don't comment on future products".
My conclusion. Although it's on the MBP, iMacs and Mini, firewire is DEAD on Apple products. Expect it to be hacked off the iMac soon.
Looks like I'll have to take my trade to other computer companies who are willing to follow market trends, not trying to set them.
He had the opportunity to speak to Steve Jobs about it and has not reported back with anything that can be considered as good news from his conversation with Mr. Jobs.
I've always thought Jobs had the knack of screwing things up for Apple's customers. I just love it when people say that Apple transitioned to USB with the iMac. IMO they didn't. Simply put, one day it wasn't there. The next day it was, and everything else was gone. Nice and tidy. PCI-X?? ADC?? Personality Cards?? Plain Talk?? Non-standard headphone Jacks??
I think it's time for the man to step down. A huge proportion of users are up in arms about this and they Apple hasn't formally declared anything one way or the other. Apple users have to make purchasing decisions every day. Wouldn't it be nice if they just communicated their plans for Firewire so that people can make better decisions? Oh yeah I forgot: "We don't comment on future products".
My conclusion. Although it's on the MBP, iMacs and Mini, firewire is DEAD on Apple products. Expect it to be hacked off the iMac soon.
Looks like I'll have to take my trade to other computer companies who are willing to follow market trends, not trying to set them.