It would be very amusing if the first we heard about this was because someone who ordered a MacBook all of a sudden had a FireWire port.
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Steve Jobs on Lack of Firewire in MacBooks
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It would be very amusing if the first we heard about this was because someone who ordered a MacBook all of a sudden had a FireWire port.
I hope Apple is swapping out a USB for a FireWire 800 port in their MacBook build as we speak. Not announcing a revision in their January event would just seem foolish (along with push notification, but that's for another thread
How easy do you think "swapping out" a port is? Board design and test takes months, as does gearing up a production line. Even if Apple were determined to reverse their decision immediately (pretty unlikely in itself), we wouldn't see a revised Macbook until late '09. And that would collide with the schedule for the i7 models, probably due out in early 2010. No, we won't see FW added back to the Macbook until then, if at all.
I agree, where is eSATA? Shouldn't this be relatively simple to accomplish since the Motherboards already have SATA chipsets?
At all is the correct answer. When you begin believing you're god, as Mr. Job's seems to believe, you can't admit that you possibly made a mistake. I don't believe firewire is coming back. I still believe there's a chance that it will disappear from the iMac's, too. This is one time I would prefer to be wrong, but I don't think I am.
I agree with you, it's pretty doubtful they'll bring it back.
Although I seem to remember my original 15" MBP didn't have FireWire 800, though my current one does.
Never say never...
James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association, was recently quoted as saying:
"There is every indication that Apple executives are paying attention to the FireWire discussion and want to address users' concerns."
Source: Nov. 12, 2008 press release, FireWire's Strong Presence in Notebook PCs, Storage, Instrumentation Applications Points to Solid Future Growth, 1394 Trade Association Reports
James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association, was recently quoted as saying:
"There is every indication that Apple executives are paying attention to the FireWire discussion and want to address users' concerns."
Source: Nov. 12, 2008 press release, FireWire's Strong Presence in Notebook PCs, Storage, Instrumentation Applications Points to Solid Future Growth, 1394 Trade Association Reports
That is good news. And honestly, can they really ignore their users' needs? I truly believe that they simply made a mistake and did not expect the backlash. Whether it was an aesthetic or financial decision, Apple is not so stupid that they will completely ignore a core group of their users. It seems that a few of the times Apple has made decisions that were truly rebuffed by their users in the past, they backpedaled.
Spinning a new board could be done in a few months - it certainly could be announced in January if they got started soon after the October announcements.
And as a journalist, I would like to know what those "indications" are? I see "every indication" that the opposite is true (with all the nixing of FW going on, Steve Jobs reasoning of nixing it and so forth).
But perhaps he has a letter showing that Apple will reimplement it?
At this point this doesn't necessarily mean that FW suddenly has a future on the Mac platform, but merely that they will try nixing it again in a couple of years (yes, my faith in Apple is below zero at this point).
I never said that Apple was stupid, but I do think that Jobs is that arrogant. I can't imagine the great Jobs ever doing anything that could be construed as "I screwed up".
Maybe they'll create a new, 13" Macbook Pro while keeping the existing 13" Macbook as is, allowing him to save face...
I'll stick to my statement. I believe Jobs has made up his mind and he'll stick with it out of stubbornness, if for no other reason.
Going off topic a bit (to make a point) I was reading one of my video content creator mags last night, and they were asking "Where is apple on BluRay"? Content creators at the highest level, who have never used PC's, are having to use PC's to author BluRay disks. They also quoted Job's "bag of hurt" comment. It's amazing, for someone who is credited with being so forward thinking, how myopic he can be when he decides he doesn't want to pay fees to anyone else for technology he doesn't own. He was quoted as saying that he didn't want to hurt his customers with added costs. What?? Apple? The home of the $1300 entry-level notebook without firewire is worried about saving their customers money?
Going off topic a bit (to make a point) I was reading one of my video content creator mags last night, and they were asking "Where is apple on BluRay"? Content creators at the highest level, who have never used PC's, are having to use PC's to author BluRay disks. They also quoted Job's "bag of hurt" comment. It's amazing, for someone who is credited with being so forward thinking, how myopic he can be when he decides he doesn't want to pay fees to anyone else for technology he doesn't own. He was quoted as saying that he didn't want to hurt his customers with added costs. What?? Apple? The home of the $1300 entry-level notebook without firewire is worried about saving their customers money?
I believe that they do exactly that. Job's believes that it is up to him to determine the needs of the user and dictates it through what he produces. And up to this point he appears to be correct because he possesses such a hardcore base of support. People talk about getting fed-up but, until they vote with their dollars (pesos, pounds, euros, etc.), Apple will continue to do business in this manner. Just look at how many people in this thread told us that we were just being whiners. that we should somehow magically use USB or get an adapter. All because their mighty god Job's has spoken.
And if I seem a little cynical today, it's because I am.
And he's pretty good at it.
I don't think it's the hardcore (fan) base supporting.
It's rather the sheer mass of plain average Joes who just don't need or want FireWire.
Sure, Apple might be a bit early with their getting rid of FireWire. Just as it was with ADB, Floppy drives - cause some people still use use FW camcorders, and a few even buy new ones. But apart from that, Jobs is totally right:
Consumers don't care about FireWire.
Especially not switchers, cause FW never really took off in the Windows world.
And these switchers are the people of whom Apple's recent success are made of.
They've been doing a pretty good job at it the past couple of years.
Since any such announcement would kill most sales of current Macbooks (as well as slow sales of MBPs for those who have need of FireWire), I very much doubt they would announce it months ahead of time even if they did plan a revision. And "soon after the October announcements" Jobs was telling people that cameras all come with USB now anyway; he certainly wasn't backpedaling.
Yeah, that's one thing I hate about the Mac fanboys. If you disagree with "The Great One" (SJ), or have any suggestions on how they (Apple) can improve, you're automatically a whiner.
Jobs is totally wrong!
The only way he could have been totally right even about video camera's is if the millions that are in the hands of consumers and the many that are still being manufactured and sold either no longer existed or were unusable.But that's not the case.
Firewire is so much more than video!!! That's only been stated thousands of times in this thread. Hard drives, audio, etc. And the floppy drive analogy is not only worn out, it's not valid. When manufacturers started doing away with floppy drives as an integral part of their machines it was clear to everyone that it was near the end of it's life. But, if you still wanted to use it, at least you could get an external floppy drive to connect to your computer. There is no external solution for firewire. I guess we could use the express card slot in the MB. Oh, wait, it doesn't have one. And when you say firewire never took off in the Windows world, have you looked at inexpensive Windows notebooks? If they don't have a four pin firewire, they have an expansion card slot. And most $700 and up PC desktops have six pin firewire. Whether "most" consumers know about firewire or not is irrelevant. Most consumers don't know what the Ethernet port on their laptop is for either. And most never use the video out. Many laptops are now coming with HDMI ports but how many use them? Heck, I know people who have never used USB. None of those facts are reasons for any of those ports to be eliminated. If you pride your self on being an industry leader, as Apple claims to be, you should offer more, not less. At least make it an option. This decision by Apple is indefensible, period.
Apple has made it an option. That option goes by various names. MacBook Pro. iMac. Among others.
I think an easy solution would be to add FireWire as an option in the configuration and charge something outrageous like $100 bucks more. That way people who already bought the MacBook ( who knew it didn't have fw and bought it anyway) won't be so bitter cause hey we saved a hundred dollars. But those of us who really need it will gladly pay the premium.
I don't see why they couldn't have it completed by Jan, it's Apple they have been doing this for years. Putting a port on a computer is easy, admitting you were wrong now that's the hard part. This way they wouldn't even need to admit anything. They could just say the voice of the consumer was so loud that we wanted to be good business men and adhere to the customers needs.
I don't see why they couldn't have it completed by Jan, it's Apple they have been doing this for years. Putting a port on a computer is easy, admitting you were wrong now that's the hard part. This way they wouldn't even need to admit anything. They could just say the voice of the consumer was so loud that we wanted to be good business men and adhere to the customers needs.
Hilarious. You know what I meant. We're discussing the MB and it's lack of firewire. If they weren't going to leave it as a standard feature it could have been made a configuration option. Many would have been willing to pay extra for the option. I would have purchased two.
Oh, and I wonder how long on the iMac. If they're wanting to distinguish between their so-called consumer line and the "pro" line.
An option....sure that makes real sense
its called the Macbook Pro!You do have a choice, but I'm afraid Apple makes products for everybody so you either compromise on the Pro (or White MB)...or go without
Phew
An option....sure that makes real sense
You do have a choice, but I'm afraid Apple makes products for everybody so you either compromise on the Pro (or White MB)...or go without
Phew
A barely portable and $700 more expensive 15" model is not an option. Exactly how much do they have to take away before you people stop rubber stamping every decision they make?
Wow! Still missing the point by a mile or moreAn option....sure that makes real sense
An option....sure that makes real sense
You do have a choice, but I'm afraid Apple makes products for everybody so you either compromise on the Pro (or White MB)...or go without
Phew
Aren't you original. You just repeated what was said by someone a few posts back. You really should try reading. You might learn something.
The rest of your comment makes absolutely no sense. But why would I expect it to when you obviously just want to defend any ignorant decision Apple makes. If, as you said, Apple makes products for everyone (which isn't even closer to the truth), then they would have made an up-to-date MacBook with firewire instead of offering leftover out-of-date MB's with firewire.
That's a good question. I'm almost convinced that for some of these people they could offer a finely crafted metal box that does absolutely nothing and they would be fawning over it talking about how wonderful it is.