Simple. You trademark it and give it away free so no one else can trademark the name and force you to pay the royalties to use the name. A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is Sony Fragmenting Thunderbolt? Apple, not Intel, Applies for Thunderbolt Trademark
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Simple. You trademark it and give it away free so no one else can trademark the name and force you to pay the royalties to use the name. A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
I agree, the blue middle is by standard the marking of the usb 3 ports.
So either the picture is wrong or the whole rumor is bollocks (which seems pretty likely to me).
That IF you assume everything you read in all rumour articles is 100% correct. I don't believe everything I read. I'll wait for hard evidence first, then I will know if the USB forum said anything about joining USB and TB.
I'm sure that Apple isn't the only one with mini Display Port. 
AMD (ATI) Graphics Card Eyefinity Technology was based on 6 mDP
Lenovo Thinkpad X1, released like 2 days ago have one.
etc etc.
mDP is certainly not dead technology as there are companies adopting it slowly.
Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is a total different story. I'd prefer if they used the USB-shaped port for convenience, but who cares? It's all the same, we're gonna be carrying extra dongles anyway. Let's just wait for a Thunderbolt peripheral and then we can say if it lives or dies!
AMD (ATI) Graphics Card Eyefinity Technology was based on 6 mDP
Lenovo Thinkpad X1, released like 2 days ago have one.
etc etc.
mDP is certainly not dead technology as there are companies adopting it slowly.
Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is a total different story. I'd prefer if they used the USB-shaped port for convenience, but who cares? It's all the same, we're gonna be carrying extra dongles anyway. Let's just wait for a Thunderbolt peripheral and then we can say if it lives or dies!
Why are Sony even complicating this and potentially colliding with the recommendations for how the USB port should be used? USB 3.0 sounds like a perfect match for them. Since Intel and Apple designed the Thunderbolt interface and chose DisplayPort, devices have already been designed for this port and are going to market soon. Talk about needlessly causing problems for your customers.
What the rumor suggests is that that USB3 port is actually a hybrid USB3.0/Thunderbolt port. Just like those eSATA/USB2 you find in some PCs.
An additional dock comes with that computer that provides all sort of crazy stuff including a discrete video IN the dock. Without the dock, the VAIO is suppose to be a crazy portable unit that last up to 16hrs on a single charge and leaving all the expansion and power-consuming (including a BD burner, GPU... etc) on the dock that connects to the laptop via Thunderbolt.
And even though I'm a 2011 MBP owner, I'd say Sony's approach makes much better sense. If they actually pull it off, I would see other major manufacturers follow suit. And if that's the case, stevie, just make a dongle for us early adopters and let's move on.
The problem is Thunderbolt's extra 10 Gbps is in the wrong way for a display. Pixels aren't being pushed from the monitor to the computer.
Whether this is a real Thunderbolt port or not will become clear in time. I think it needs to be standard across all manufacturers though, much like USB is.
What will really decide it for Thunderbolt over USB is the devices available for it. I've not seen it mentioned yet, but will thunderbolt thumb drives become available? This for me was where USB took off. Sudenly you could carry around multiple GBs on something no bigger than a keyring and plug it in anywhere. If Thunderbolt drives come out like this then I can do the same just quicker.
Adoption from all manufacturers is needed though. It's not about adapeters etc, they're just the short term fix for your cameras, iPhones etc, ultimately if the computers manufacturers all begin to have Thunderbolt ports, then periferals will come, over time all gadgets, hard drives, displays etc can then just have the one port connection, much like most gadgets etc have usb now.
Sure, it's a bit messy at the moment because USB3 will accept your current devices and Thunderbolt won't but it shouldn't just be about this, its about future devices too.
What will really decide it for Thunderbolt over USB is the devices available for it. I've not seen it mentioned yet, but will thunderbolt thumb drives become available? This for me was where USB took off. Sudenly you could carry around multiple GBs on something no bigger than a keyring and plug it in anywhere. If Thunderbolt drives come out like this then I can do the same just quicker.
Adoption from all manufacturers is needed though. It's not about adapeters etc, they're just the short term fix for your cameras, iPhones etc, ultimately if the computers manufacturers all begin to have Thunderbolt ports, then periferals will come, over time all gadgets, hard drives, displays etc can then just have the one port connection, much like most gadgets etc have usb now.
Sure, it's a bit messy at the moment because USB3 will accept your current devices and Thunderbolt won't but it shouldn't just be about this, its about future devices too.
Idea semantics
Every* other argument here is about the number of ports, something apparently noticed by only one person so far (MVM). If you are trying to plug 17 devices into a laptop...good luck, regardless of which port they all use. That is the fault of the laptop being a laptop, with limited ports, not the fault of whichever consortium of companies made which port do what. Buy peripherals appropriate to your computer, I guess. Or vice versa.
So, we have a series of laptops and the 21" iMac with only 1 TB port, and the 27" with 2 ports. All but the 27 are "underported". That is the problem y'all are discussing, maybe complain correctly, at least. But if TB/LP became the next standard, we'd have several ports on at least desktops, yes? My POS tower at work has 6 USB2 ports (wait, it might be 8), because that was the standard in 2005 or whenever. Frankly, until there actually IS a drive on the market, this discussion seems a bit premature.
* Ok, not every, there is also the argument about USB orientation. Just amazing that people think every computer not only was designed the same way (which they weren't), but is positioned the same way on every desk/table/rack/lap on the planet. (not to mention identical lighting, no doubt) I've seen tower computers where some USB ports on the back were horizontal, some vertical. And people here say everything is the same and it's no problem? Let's compare to something useful....how many times does anybody have difficulty orienting the RJ45 ethernet jack? I don't recall a single time for me personally, and it's easy to orient by feel if you can't see the back of a device. USB ports feel just like the vents on many computers, too.
People are confused, to the point that they don't even know there IS a difference, and don't even know they are suffering from it. I guess if that means "figured out", ok, but you've never argued that ignorance is a blessing before, maybe I missed it. There are many times I was ready to smash a computer (or maybe the USB drive) to bits over the speed difference as it is impossible to ascertain from the port itself. Esp on the computers with BOTH versions of USB ports, wtf was that about? USB has been the backwards, "good enough" **** of the industry since day one. Congrats to all idiots, because that is who it was designed for. Step up and be proud.
Every* other argument here is about the number of ports, something apparently noticed by only one person so far (MVM). If you are trying to plug 17 devices into a laptop...good luck, regardless of which port they all use. That is the fault of the laptop being a laptop, with limited ports, not the fault of whichever consortium of companies made which port do what. Buy peripherals appropriate to your computer, I guess. Or vice versa.
So, we have a series of laptops and the 21" iMac with only 1 TB port, and the 27" with 2 ports. All but the 27 are "underported". That is the problem y'all are discussing, maybe complain correctly, at least. But if TB/LP became the next standard, we'd have several ports on at least desktops, yes? My POS tower at work has 6 USB2 ports (wait, it might be 8), because that was the standard in 2005 or whenever. Frankly, until there actually IS a drive on the market, this discussion seems a bit premature.
* Ok, not every, there is also the argument about USB orientation. Just amazing that people think every computer not only was designed the same way (which they weren't), but is positioned the same way on every desk/table/rack/lap on the planet. (not to mention identical lighting, no doubt) I've seen tower computers where some USB ports on the back were horizontal, some vertical. And people here say everything is the same and it's no problem? Let's compare to something useful....how many times does anybody have difficulty orienting the RJ45 ethernet jack? I don't recall a single time for me personally, and it's easy to orient by feel if you can't see the back of a device. USB ports feel just like the vents on many computers, too.
Last edited:
Why not??? Why can't USB be used for Thunderbolt? For F's sake, what does the "USB Implementors Forum" gain from not allowing this use of USB? How exactly is this bad for them? Everything is controlled by a bunch of idiots.
And so how is Sony going to get away with it then? Isn't it unfair that Sony can do it and Apple can't, so we end up with 2 "standards", eventually leading to the death of the entire Thunderbolt thing.
Uh... that's what daisy chain means. computer ---> Monitor would become computer ---> HD ---> monitor (monitor is last in the chain). You'd have to first unplug the monitor from the computer to plug in a HDD on the same chain.
You didn't read my post. I addressed your "speculation". At this point, the only fact we have is that they are trying to register the trademark. They don't need to register it to own it and no one else can trademark it. It's surprising that Apple can, since this is Intel's tech. Is there some dispute between Intel and Apple on this ?
Except again no one has provided a citation to back that claim yet. All we have is a few obscure references on 3rd party news outlets which aren't direct quotes and a wikipedia page.
I'm starting to be highly suspicious of that "fact" myself, as is Aidenshaw.
Could this USB-IF thing all be an urban legend ?
Intel's name is Light Peak, isn't it?
Besides, everyone seems to have forgotten the HTC Thunderbolt. I'm assuming there's a correlation.
I'm sure that Apple isn't the only one with mini Display Port.
AMD (ATI) Graphics Card Eyefinity Technology was based on 6 mDP
Lenovo Thinkpad X1, released like 2 days ago have one.
etc etc.
mDP is certainly not dead technology as there are companies adopting it slowly.
Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is a total different story. I'd prefer if they used the USB-shaped port for convenience, but who cares? It's all the same, we're gonna be carrying extra dongles anyway. Let's just wait for a Thunderbolt peripheral and then we can say if it lives or dies!
Some Radeon cards have mdp ports.
This whole rumour looks like a bunch of hog-wash to me.
"You can't tell their direction by looking on them from the side..."
Reading comprehension goes a long way.
Good point. However, VGA doesn't allow the connected device to actually communicate with the computer like DVI. This causes one of my everyday life hells, which is waiting for the presenter to be done with the equimpent. This sometimes means rebooting the computer.
Sucks. Otherwise I have nothing against VGA.
Mmmm. I don't care what Apple does or Sony. I wish these companies could come to an agreement on what the future tech would look like and choose the fastest and most up-to-date tech.
The fact that we are still tinkering with the old BIOS is that we want backward compatibility forever ....
Most people want backward comp. and want to stick to their old stuff but on the other hand they want the newest and fastest tech. in the smallest package etc ...
I would like to see getting rid of all these ports and have one new port design which covers the rest and is suited for the new tech. Get rid of the old stuff from time to time
The fact that we are still tinkering with the old BIOS is that we want backward compatibility forever ....
Most people want backward comp. and want to stick to their old stuff but on the other hand they want the newest and fastest tech. in the smallest package etc ...
I would like to see getting rid of all these ports and have one new port design which covers the rest and is suited for the new tech. Get rid of the old stuff from time to time
Took you guys long enough to post this. I sent you links to articles talking abut this, what, three days ago? Whatever.
I think this is odd that Intel would let this happe. This is there technology, right? Wouldn't any design changes have to be approved by Intel?
I think this is odd that Intel would let this happe. This is there technology, right? Wouldn't any design changes have to be approved by Intel?
What's the difference in having 1 video and 1 non-video peripheral connector or two multipurpose connectors in this situation? If the number of connectors limits you such that one has to be disconnected to connect a third, then it does not matter at all. Otherwise, it's gravy to have multipurpose connectors. Your premise and conclusions seem faulty.
What are you on about ? On a Thunderbolt MBP, you have to disconnect the monitor to add to the chain. It's that simple.
There's nothing faulty in my logic, premise or conclusion. As shipped by Apple, Thunderbolt requires unplugging your monitor to add something to the chain.