No Firewire = Potential 3rd party solutions?

[shaynaleahy]

Hello,

Is it possible for a 3rd party to develop a solution for the lack of Firewire, such as through the Ethernet port or a device similar to the Pinnacle Moviebox (even though that one in particular was terrible). I know that Ethernet has the capability to convert to Firewire, but would that require a firmware update from Apple to enable that function?

An outside box would transfer the video through USB, but would perhaps not be recognized by iMovie, and require 3rd party software as well. That scenario would also not work for the audiophiles out there, but could potentially be a stopgap for the casual video (home movies, etc.) crowd.

I don't know about the feasibility of Firewire over Ethernet for audio equipment either. The data transfer rate may just be too slow.

However, it seems like a potentially big cash market if the functionality is possible. I'd love a replacement for my aged 12" Powerbook, but won't accept anything larger than 13" since I am constantly traveling with it. It sounds like a lot of other people are in a similar situation, or just don't want to shell out the additional $400-$700 to upgrade to the Pro line, but would happily consider a lower cost alternative, if available.

Shayna

 

[kubricks]

Isn't the Firewire over ethernet spec faster than fw400? Anyways, I think almost all audio cards are fw400 and that's all we would need.

Not sure if a software update could enable going through the ethernet port or if there would need to be some hardware modification to make it happen.

Would be a compromise I'd love Apple to implement... quickly.

 

[cube]

I would like that someone went through the spec to tell if this is actually FW over ethernet, or a port that can be used either for ethernet or firewire.

If the second, there is no chance for the MacBook. If the first you would have to do the 400 Mbps packetization in software. Not nice.