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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).

My faith in Apple is at an all time low, but unless people are willing to keep the heat on Apple regarding the Firewire issue nothing is likely to change anytime soon.

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.

But it would look great in a Zen Garden! What more would anyone want or need?
 
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.

Haha. :)
Yeah, if Jobs were to make the sales pitch himself, I think Apple would have a real shot at some decent sales of the "iBox" amongst a lot of the Apple faithful.
 
This has got to be my favorite post of this thread. I too have noticed the lack of attention in the Apple store. I've been there twice in the last week and haven't seen anyone walk out with a MacBook yet. Way to go public!

I love how this thread doesn't quit. 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 ;) )
Most interesting.

No, we won't see FW added back to the Macbook until then, if at all.
My guess is that we will not see FW in the MB lineup.

SJ would have to eat crow to do this.

Rather, Apple will introduce a MBP13 that has FW800, and a MBP17 model.

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
Good news! :)

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.
True.

Maybe this time they will listen to the customer.

They've been doing a pretty good job at it the past couple of years.
Apple has a history of this.

They got so far off the 8 ball back in the 90's, that Apple almost ceased to exist as a company.

An option....sure that makes real sense :rolleyes: 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 :p

Phew :D
Wow! Still missing the point by a mile or more …
Yep, some folks just don't get it.

"Don't ask what the iBox can do for you -- ask what you can do for it!"
Snort! :)
 
My guess is that we will not see FW in the MB lineup.

SJ would have to eat crow to do this.

Rather, Apple will introduce a MBP13 that has FW800, and a MBP17 model.

At what price point for a MBP13? I don't see where this fits between the current 2.4GHz MB and the low-end MBP.

Apple has a history of this.

They got so far off the 8 ball back in the 90's, that Apple almost ceased to exist as a company.

But the problem then was that they had so many conflicting system choices that customers couldn't keep them straight (plus licensing MacOS to clone makers). Now it's more like the opposite - too few options.
 
So after 2 million posts, what is the workaround for getting a firewire camera movie onto one of these macbooks?!?
Buy a new camera, connect the old camera to the new one (via the s-video out) and record the video on the new camera (with USB) then connect new camera to the Alu Macbook.


Otherwise, there is none.
 
Buy a new camera, connect the old camera to the new one (via the s-video out) and record the video on the new camera (with USB) then connect new camera to the Alu Macbook.


Otherwise, there is none.

Well, I'll be getting an Elgato Hybrid and try the composite video and audio cable. It's an old camera so the picture is only so good anyway. I'm hoping that the Hybrid doesn't lose too much in the way of quality. I'd get the eye tv 250 with the build in decoder but I can't tell if it will work next year with my VHF antenna (digital signals and all that).
 
Well, I'll be getting an Elgato Hybrid and try the composite video and audio cable. It's an old camera so the picture is only so good anyway. I'm hoping that the Hybrid doesn't lose too much in the way of quality. I'd get the eye tv 250 with the build in decoder but I can't tell if it will work next year with my VHF antenna (digital signals and all that).

Ah, yeah I forgot about the elgato route.
 
Over 90% of digital stations are UHF...

...but I can't tell if it will work next year with my VHF antenna (digital signals and all that).

See http://www.antennasdirect.com/vhf_hdtv_stations.html for a list of VHF HDTV stations.

Check with your local stations to be sure - some stations are moving on the 17th of February.

Also, a very useful site is http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx - you put in your address and it will show lists of stations, frequencies and distance. It will even show a map of where the towers are relative to your home.

To see detailed signal maps, http://www.tvfool.com/ has a Google Earth tool that will show signal propagation maps which show how hills and structures block the signals.
 
At what price point for a MBP13? I don't see where this fits between the current 2.4GHz MB and the low-end MBP.
Good point.

Maybe around $1,800 for the MBP13 with 2.4Ghz CPU?

But the problem then was that they had so many conflicting system choices that customers couldn't keep them straight (plus licensing MacOS to clone makers). Now it's more like the opposite - too few options.
Agree. Very true.

That was a frustrating time for sure.
 
That was a frustrating time for sure.
Unfortunately, the lack of FireWire, thanks to Uncle Steve, is beginning a new era of frustration for Apple's customers.

No adequate replacement for firewire = no new purchase of a MacBook and continued use of an older MBP. Thus earning Apple ZERO money until this one dies. Hear that shareholders?
 
Unfortunately, the lack of FireWire, thanks to Uncle Steve, is beginning a new era of frustration for Apple's customers.

No adequate replacement for firewire = no new purchase of a MacBook and continued use of an older MBP. Thus earning Apple ZERO money until this one dies. Hear that shareholders?

For us prosumer Mac uses that era began a couple of years ago. Steve is graciously extending it to the general population.
 
Pioneer did away with their firewire interconnect.
Frustrating when you buy new stuff and it no longer supports the old stuff.
Anyone have a floppy drive in their new computer?
 
Pioneer did away with their firewire interconnect.
Frustrating when you buy new stuff and it no longer supports the old stuff.
Anyone have a floppy drive in their new computer?

Another ignorant floppy drive analogy. :eek: How can any rational person think that it is in any way comparable?
And if you care to find out why it is a pathetic analogy, try actually going back and reading some of the posts in this thread.
 
I wonder how many people that would infuriate (irrespective of the merits of it, since they did buy it).


Probably not many, as only a fool would buy a MacBook if they had a use for FireWire.

Oh BTW, I will NOT be buying a new MB not only because of the lack of FireWire,
but also the loss the S-Video out. I have a 36" Sony Wega tube TV from 2000 that
still works great. I don't watch TV; the SD DVDs look far better than on any HDTV.
I often use my MacBook to watch video using the S-Video connector. Why lose that option?
 
Probably not many, as only a fool would buy a MacBook if they had a use for FireWire.

Why? Some of us 'pros' use two machines... having firewire on my BlackBook was extremely handy. I was never going to buy a second smaller brand new MBP to supplement my main one.
 
Excuse my poor writing...

Why? Some of us 'pros' use two machines... having firewire on my BlackBook was extremely handy. I was never going to buy a second smaller brand new MBP to supplement my main one.


I just re-read my post above. Sounds like we're on the same page. I have an
iMac at home (20" 2 Ghz rev b PPC G5), and I use the firewire on my MacBook
quite a bit more than I do on the iMac. So what I meant was, anyone with a use
for FireWire would indeed be a fool to buy the new MacBook, especially with
so many other options out there, including the PC world (wow I actually said it).

If and when the time comes to upgrade/replace my Jan '07 2 Ghz MacBook,
it will be a last-gen 2.4 Ghz model with its glorious FireWire port and
its inherently better Wi-Fi reception. Long live the plastic MacBooks!
 
Well, I'll be getting an Elgato Hybrid and try the composite video and audio cable. It's an old camera so the picture is only so good anyway. I'm hoping that the Hybrid doesn't lose too much in the way of quality. I'd get the eye tv 250 with the build in decoder but I can't tell if it will work next year with my VHF antenna (digital signals and all that).

That will work, any FW / tape camera should be able to output analog video right? Take that from the camera into the Elgato and you have your video. Its actually the same thing I am doing with mountains of VHS tapes at the moment :)
 
That will work, any FW / tape camera should be able to output analog video right? Take that from the camera into the Elgato and you have your video. Its actually the same thing I am doing with mountains of VHS tapes at the moment :)

Yeah, this looks like a workaround. But... you've added an unnecessary D/A and A/D conversion, followed by a second encoding (into mpeg-2), each of which will degrade the image quality.

And without looking too deep into the product, I'm guessing it doesn't use iMovie or FCP / FCPE tools to get the data into your machine - its Elgato software pulling the newly encoded video in. So if you wish to edit, you'll probably then have to import the mpeg-2 files created by the Elgato 250 into your editing SW.

Those caveats aside though (and the $$ to buy it!), at least it offers an option for video - the audio guys and everyone else with other FW peripherals are still out of luck :mad:
 
Pioneer did away with their firewire interconnect.
Frustrating when you buy new stuff and it no longer supports the old stuff.
Anyone have a floppy drive in their new computer?

If I needed to access a floppy disc, I could go to Office Depot right now and buy a USB floppy drive, bring it home, plug it into my computer, and I could access the information.

No solution exists for retrieving information off of a firewire hard drive with the new Macbook. Might I add, I could buy that firewire hard drive at Office Depot right now, too.
 
Pioneer did away with their firewire interconnect.
Frustrating when you buy new stuff and it no longer supports the old stuff.
Anyone have a floppy drive in their new computer?

lol, what's a floppy drive... :D

companies will always add/remove things to make you have to buy new things. it's how they maximize sales
confused.gif
 
That will work, any FW / tape camera should be able to output analog video right?
Certainly not with HDV camcorders!
And even if it worked, it would be utterly stupid to downgrade the highdef material to analog just to get it into a Macbook.
Unfortunately HDV needs both, a fast processor AND firewire.

My next camcorder will either be the new Sony FX1000 or a Red Scarlet. The Sony has no USB at all and the Scarlet's card reader will most likely be FW800 like on their current models.

Since both camcorder and laptop must fit in a backpack, I rather downgrade my notebook to Windows and use SpeedEdit for on the road checks than downgrade the camera. No matter how much I love and prefer OSX and FCP.

The priorities of serious users are quite different than those of fanboys and switchers. In the pro world it is often the peripherals that dictate the computer system, not the other way round...
 
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