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Steve Jobs on Lack of Firewire in MacBooks
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I have just watched the keynote again from the 14th October. It is on the one hand good that they have introduced more MBP features on the MB, but it is rather strange at the loss of FW. I guess you cannot please everyone though! Look at the Mini!
It is a good thing to be spending during the current climate, it will only turn around if people start spending again.
LOL, anyone that thinks that spending is the cure-all need to go do even just a tad of research.
I have just watched the keynote again from the 14th October. It is on the one hand good that they have introduced more MBP features on the MB, but it is rather strange at the loss of FW. I guess you cannot please everyone though! Look at the Mini!
You're not the first to say something like that, but I can't help but wonder what "MBP" features is it you people are talking about? As far as I can see, it is the MBP that has become more MB-like.
David Pogue just released a column bemoaning the loss of Firewire. Apparently Steve was able to convince him that it's just a legacy port and that no camcorders will be tape based within 10 years. Pity. I hope Steve isn't so controlling that he'll kill Firewire off just for hits and giggles, regardless of what the designers or end users have to say about it.
This is an adapter for a special cable testing device, not a fully featured one. Forget about it.
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Wireless backups are far, far too unreliable at the moment. Target disk mode is infinitely more use than time machine.
When my hard drive dies, I will boot up in target disk mode, get a new hard drive and start recovery.
When Joe schmo's hard drive dies, he takes it to the Apple store and they deal with it, or he buys a new computer and said the old one was broken. He may or may not backup with time machine. If he does, it's USB and he'll take it to the store and they'll show him, or he might google for how to restore his photos.
Apple now caters for average Joe and not the dedicated and loyal base of users that steered it through the most troubled of times
It's not about the media of the film. USB transfers in bursts. This is the issue. Firewire 400 is so much better than USB 2 it's not even funny. Until Apple sort this out, I am not buying a Mac without firewire. I might end up getting stuck with 10.5 for a long, long time.
I just started photography. DSLR and my 12" PowerBook with Adobe Lightroom. No way on Earth is the 13" MacBook replacing that. It weighs a ton! Then there's the lack of firewire for my bootable clone. No thanks, Apple. Feedback left, email to Jobs sent and finally I WILL NOT MAKE A PURCHASE until they sort out the line. MacBook Pro? Pah! The entire line should be renamed MacBook now. The white plastic one is either out by Christmas, or renamed iBook
Apple and a great deal of the "online press" (mostly bloggers these days) seem to miss the fact that Firewire isn't just for video. FW400 is superior to USB2 for transfers of large files and backups and in the audio world Firewire is the preferred standard. Target mode is another topic...
The only press people who "get it" are the journalist and bloggers that have actual experience in content creation who write for publications that cater to audio and video professionals and musicians. These days it seems that most of the "journalists" that write tech-related articles rely on the manufacturers as their knowledge source on a given subject or issue. If Steve Jobs or anyone else from Apple tells them something they fall for it hook, line, and sinker. They seem to just regurgitate the company's latest press release without question or analysis.
Take the ZDNET article FireWire-to-USB cable, Windows-only for now for example, which is talking about the mythical USB to Firewire "adapter". The guy that wrote it believes "... I bet that a Mac version will be offered soon. The Mac market didn’t need such an adapter since Macs all came with FireWire. But now it’s an opportunity for third-party vendors." It seems that the only people that realize the problem with such an "adapter" that would be totally unworkable are the people that actually have experience in the real world. A so-called "adapter" like this would be completely worthless for audio, but again the bloggers think Firewire = video (only) apparently.
Yeah, I agree with others that Pogue seems to be missing the point. It's too bad he only reported about the DV issue and not the speed issue and target disk mode issue, which are the two that have kept me a FireWire user for 8 years.
It's so weird still; it seems premature to have removed FW for that reason. There isn't a clear successor. I mean, it's not like they put eSATA in there or anything. Are they banking on cloud based storage (either true cloud or NDAS)? It's currently far slower (in my experience) than FW in RealLife.
When they ditched the floppy, I was pleased among the chorus of complaints because I felt that it was a really slow, poor technology, irrespective of its successes (like VHS). I never, ever missed a floppy drive. I haven't had a use for a floppy in almost 10 years now. But FW is the fastest thing around with respect to local file transfer, and it's the most versatile. It's true though that it seems slightly more expensive for whatever reason, but I call it the price of performance versus all of the cheap USB 2.0 junk around. It's now abundantly clear that a lot of MB users (and those of us who are not MB users) use FW a lot. Someone ought to run a proper, independent poll and see just how many people are in reality affected by this.
I talked to some of my students today. All love the new MacBook except for a few things:
1.) Lack of FireWire
2.) Color Mixture which makes it look like a Fujitsu Siemens.
Give us back the black
No adapter will be able to run a Mac in traget disk mode.
1.) Lack of FireWire
2.) Color Mixture which makes it look like a Fujitsu Siemens.
Give us back the black
No adapter will be able to run a Mac in traget disk mode.
Somehow, I just don't think that will measure up to FW400, let alone FW800.
Unfortunately.
FireWire isn't dead...
Apparently Western Digital "gets it", even if Steve Jobs doesn't...
Western Digital Adds FireWire Interface To Passport
Western Digital on Thursday started offering its My Passport Studio portable hard drive with a FireWire 800/400 interface for Mac users.
"Photographers and videographers, be they creative pros or Mac computer enthusiasts, have a genuine need for large amounts of fast, portable storage for their high-definition files," Jim Welsh, senior VP and general manager of WD's Consumer Electronics Group, said in a statement.
Apparently Western Digital "gets it", even if Steve Jobs doesn't...
Western Digital Adds FireWire Interface To Passport
Western Digital on Thursday started offering its My Passport Studio portable hard drive with a FireWire 800/400 interface for Mac users.
"Photographers and videographers, be they creative pros or Mac computer enthusiasts, have a genuine need for large amounts of fast, portable storage for their high-definition files," Jim Welsh, senior VP and general manager of WD's Consumer Electronics Group, said in a statement.
I think Steve Jobs needs to pay a little more attention to the industry and its needs and a little less attention to his big fat ego.
That's what makes Steve such a double edge sword. On one hand his ability to think outside the box sometimes anticipates where the market is going and creates a revolutionary new product like the iPod or iPhone. On the other hand when he's wrong he usually puts Apple in a very precarious position and would rather take Apple down the wrong road than admit his mistake.
Riiiight...
We don't want the white Macbook.
You ever heard of a USB to FW adapter? Why don't you invent one?
We don't want the white Macbook.
You ever heard of a USB to FW adapter? Why don't you invent one?
LOL... That is quite interesting... Well now I know the truth!
"there is no other port worthy of worship but USB and Steve Jobs is its prophet! Allahu-Steve-Jobs!"
No. Personally, I think those online petitions are ineffective. I have not seen any evidence that they ever do anything. I'm pretty sure they can be faked too, and if I know that, then the all-knowing and all-powerful Stevie will know that too.Do you think if enough people sign a petition that Apple will really add it back to their line?
I feel that currently direct feedback to Apple is the most effective way to voice our displeasure.
And is making the connection into a USB connection with even more overhead than a normal USB connection, making it even worse than what USB is to begin with. IF they truly work on a PC. The thing is, I highly doubt they work for anything else than to transmit power.
Go try that USB-FW adaptor on your PC, and you'll see that while they exist, they're absolutely useless.
I'm guessing we are very early in the possible retirement cycle of Firewire. Indeed there are still one current MB, the entire MBP line, all of the iMacs, the mini's and all of the Pro's that still have the feature.
By the time it would potentially disappear from the line, there will be almost no cameras that are being sold that use tape storage, and all of the vendors that sell high end audio gear will have USB 2 or USB 3 options.
By the time it would potentially disappear from the line, there will be almost no cameras that are being sold that use tape storage, and all of the vendors that sell high end audio gear will have USB 2 or USB 3 options.
It's not about the media of the film. USB transfers in bursts. This is the issue. Firewire 400 is so much better than USB 2 it's not even funny. Until Apple sort this out, I am not buying a Mac without firewire. I might end up getting stuck with 10.5 for a long, long time.
I just started photography. DSLR and my 12" PowerBook with Adobe Lightroom. No way on Earth is the 13" MacBook replacing that. It weighs a ton! Then there's the lack of firewire for my bootable clone. No thanks, Apple. Feedback left, email to Jobs sent and finally I WILL NOT MAKE A PURCHASE until they sort out the line. MacBook Pro? Pah! The entire line should be renamed MacBook now. The white plastic one is either out by Christmas, or renamed iBook
Oh please, I went from a 12" PB to a MacBook. Its not that heavy and in any case, a new plastic white Mb would suit your needs perfectly, like it does mine also as a photographer.