A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed

Technologizer writes "Some folks are outraged over the lack of FireWire in the new MacBook released this week. But Apple wouldn't be Apple if it didn't move faster than any other computer company to kill technologies that may be past their prime. And history usually validates its decisions. We've posted a decade's worth of examples that prove the point."

Am I missing something...

[Desert Raven]

Something missing here. The article claims to be "A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed" Yet, the article has nothing of the sort, and the linked page is a just an opinion piece on the lack of Firewire in the new MacBooks.

I'm guessing this [technologizer.com] is the link that was intended.

Re:Yeah, USB on the iMac was a good choice

[calmofthestorm]

It's not incomprehensible, it's good business sense. The Apple model is make average hardware and very shiny software, then bundle them together with technological safeguards and profit off selling the hardware at 2-3x what other manufacturers charge (for upgardes, initial computers are far more reasonable but there's still the "apple tax")

Apple and MS are about as evil, if anything Apple is worse per unit user. The difference is Apple can make software that doesn't suck in the OS division AND elsewhere.

Correct link

[wumpus188]

Why not link directly to the list [technologizer.com] instead of the pointless poll?

HUNDREDS of angry users!!!!

[mschuyler]

says the article. That's right: 'Hundreds,' not 'tens of thousands.' Get it? The average consumer doesn't give a rip.

Re:dumb much?

[FyreFiend]

Just to pick a nit (I agree with everything else) but Apple didn't invent NuBus, though they were the only ones to actually use it. IIRC, it was invented by TI.

Re:Outrage!

[lysergic.acid]

you probably haven't seen them because you just don't use them. but that doesn't mean they're not useful or that no one uses them.

a lot of external hard drives have firewire ports. most major external storage vendors will sell two different flavors of each device, one that comes with firewire and one with USB only. but most end users usually opt for the USB models as they're cheaper.

i mean, if you're only transferring 100-200 MB of data then it probably doesn't seem like a very significant difference--what's an extra 3-4 seconds, right? but if you're transferring 50 GB of data, then firewire versus USB could be the difference between a 2 minute transfer and a 15 minute transfer. and if you have to do large data transfers like that on a regular basis, the time savings start to add up.

Re:RS232 is dead?

[Glendale2x]

An Apple fan who is obviously not an Apple fan - the Xserve has an RS-232 port on it.

Re:Outrage!

[kromozone]

Firewire 3 (1394c) provides speeds of up to 3200mbps, over standard ethernet cables no less, and the port can function simultaneously as a 1394c port and an ethernet port. 1394b runs at 800mbps and 1394a at 400mbps. All 3 have different port configurations, although 1394b is backwards compatible with 1394a so long as you have a 1394b port to 1394a port cable. Unfortunately, because it looks like a fantastic standard and has been out for over a year now, 1394c is not available anywhere. I could understand if they had dropped 1394a for 1394b, forcing people to buy compatible cables wouldn't be such a bad thing, but dropping firewire entirely is silly.

Re:Firewire fails

[TeknoHog]

Now let's look at the back of my computers. Count the number of Firewire ports you see and compare them to USB ports. My computers have 0 or 1 fw ports but they all have 3-5 usb ports on the back alone(not including my usb hub for my golden oldie). Then add some usb in front and you know that it is a widespread standard.

Firewire is a network of equal peers, which can be chained together. That's why most computers with Firewire only have 1 or 2 ports, and most devices have 2 ports. There's no differentiation between a host computer and other devices, so it's trivial to network between two computers, or between a camcorder and a hard drive, for example.

This fact actually turns your argument upside down; Firewire can do more with less. Of course, the more intelligent controllers and the network topology are overkill for simple devices like mice and keyboards.

Re:Outrage!

[Anonymous Coward]

External USB floppy drives did, however, exist.

RS-232

[ponraul]

Macs never had RS-232. They had RS-422.

Re:Outrage!

[CheeseTroll]

That's very cool, but the Macbook doesn't have USB3, either.

Re:Outrage!

[el_munkie]

Except those are both burst-throughput speeds. In a large USB2.0 file transfer, you find that it occasionally hits the rated speed but it spends quite a lot of time stalled out. Firewire generally has a much more consistent rate of transfer.

Re:paranoia

[Anonymous Coward]

Intel does not charge a "toll" for it's specs like PCI and USB. All of it is free to implement.

Firewire is the one with the royalties.

Re:Outrage!

[GigaplexNZ]

So to be clear, you were comparing a current USB speed to a future Firewire speed? That's a little misleading, quoting 800 vs 480 would have been sufficient to state your case.

Re:Am I missing something...

[Weedlekin]

"Musicians like them for live recording because they're pretty small, have firewire, and a kernel with decent realtime performance."

Musicians who want to record live can get some pretty sophisticated dedicated DAWs for significantly less than the cost of a MacBook plus decent DAW software. They're available from a variety of manufacturers (e.g. Boss / Roland, Edirol, Fostex, Korg, Tscam, Yamaha, Zoom) in many different sizes, configurations, and prices, ranging from cheap little 4 track items that easily fit into the palm of a hand and cost less than $150 right up to 32 track, 24-bit systems with XLR inputs for each channel, phantom powering, pull-up displays, and integral CD mastering hardware and software for around $1200.

Re:Outrage!

[Ed Avis]

No problem, if Apple hasn't included Firewire then just buy your next Mac from any one of the wide range of competing hardware vendors... right... right?

Using a Mac means you have to bend over for Steve Jobs. It's pointless complaining about it.

Re:Outrage!

[edalytical]

"Have had" and "had" don't cut it. FW could have been a great consumer technology, but virtually no consumer products made today use FW -- they use USB. You can't argue with that, unless you are arguing from the point of view of a consumer in the time of FW camcorders and iPods (~10 years ago). Its really time to move on, Apple is pretty good at not beating dead horses.