Have an account? Log in to leave your comments!
journal: mac
Is Apple Killing Off Firewire?
The new iPods tech specs make an interesting read. The obvious details about audio and video play back, the included accessories and a 20 hours battery life in the 60GB iPod. But if you scroll down you will see the available accessories, more specifically the cables. What you won’t find there is a Firewire iPod cable. Is this a sign that Apple is thinking of abandoning firewire?
More Info
 |
18 | 1023 |
| comments | views |
thinkback
I dont think Apple is killing FireWire
I think with the downsizing of iPODs, there simply is no space for a FireWire connector, or even a need for it simply because more machines still have a USB/USB2 port on them compared to FireWire ports.
Maybe part of the intel deal includes apple’s abandonment of firewire in favor of usb, an intel invention.
Actually, they killed off the free FireWire cable a while back. I don’t remember when.
With thin margins, you gotta save where you can. Since USB is ubiquitous on the Windows platform, and since iPods are cross-platform it only stands to reason if you are going to consolidate your cabling, to do it on USB and not FW. Of course, I’d love FW to be the choice, but I can totally understand why it wasn’t.
Dropping Firewire for full-size iPods (which it looks like they have done, but I guess we’re not 100% sure until we hear from Apple) is stupid: 1) especially when you’re now supporting videos - Firewire is faster than USB2, and 2) since a lot of Mac owners still don’t have USB2 - downloading videos over standard USB would be a laugh.
Seems like Apple is not only dumping Firewire but also its Mac users. Nice one Apple.
A.
They dropped the firewire cable and cut the price of the iPod by $50 at the same time earlier this year, I think. If you want or need a FW cable, you can buy it separately. That way, Windows users without FW don’t have to pay extra for something they can’t use. And, if you have more than one iPod, maybe you don’t want to pay for another cable.
Cannot kill FireWire even if Apple wants to, since every computer still needs it--aka IEEE 1394--for connecting to a DV, digital video camcorder.
Apple is just trying to lower cost by choosing one connectivity popular among both platforms.
They didn’t just stop shipping a FW cable, the new iPods don’t include FW connectivity. So much for using the iPod as a FW HD. Bummer. I’m now much less interested in getting one.
But if it uses the standard dock connector you should be able to use the old firewire cable or a dock to fire wire adaptor. Or even a third party firewire/usb dock cable. But thanks for the heads up. I don’t have a dock so I should find a firewire one ASAP
| Oct. 13, 2005 | ||
| 7:10 am |
If you want or need a FW cable, you can buy it separately.
I didn’t have a huge problem for that. It’s just that Apple is now not even selling them at all.
|
| Oct. 13, 2005 | |
| 10:35 am |
Maybe on the iPod it will be USB 2 and eventually wireless USB/802.11n. But as far as FireWire, just wait for the next generation and a killer app (something with HD video of course).
MacOSRumors.com
“Next-generation 1600Mbps Firewire Apple has had the technology for 1600 and even 3200Mbps Firewire implementations since the early days of Firewire 400 but industry adoption of even the 800Mbps standard has been relatively modest and Apple is seeking a major corporate partner who can deliver a marketplace for devices and accessories that will actually use that much bandwidth and drive demand for the new standard.”
| Oct. 18, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 4:12 am |
FireWireless? Anyway, I got the two mixed up. I mean the wired one. It’ll stay but it has to be improved. Anyone know what the port on the 800 version looks like? I never liked the look and feel of FireWire 400 4-pin/6-pin. I hope the 800+ look more simple.
|
| Oct. 18, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 4:14 am |
I really like the look of 6-pin FireWire. By the shape of the plug, you automatically know the right way to orient it.
| Oct. 23, 2005 | |
| 12:38 am |
1.
When the original iPod was released USB 1.1 was the only other option, and it was not suffice for transferring large amounts of data in a reasonable amount of time. USB 2.0 is still not as fast as firewire, but it’s on nearly every modern machine, and isn’t bad. Adding in that the iPod is sold to more Windows users than Mac users, and also taking into consideration the cost of including both interfaces on iPods, it makes sense for it to not be included—except for those with machines that cannot be upgraded to USB 2.0. However, even those people can still play—though be it at a slower pace.
Firewire isn’t going anywhere as long as such a large portion of Apple’s purchases are in the video market, where firewire is the standard.