Rubenerd

As I've prefaced most of my Apple posts, I love my MacBook Pro, I love Mac OS X, I love my iPods and my iPhone is the greatest portable device I've ever owned. This isn't to say I blindly approve of everything Apple does. For example I can't over emphasise what a bad idea ditching FireWire in their MacBook line is.

Despite their decision, they are still claiming on their Developer Connection website that not only is FireWire a fast and generally super duper standard, but that it's bundled with nearly all their computers including the MacBook:

FireWire is one of the fastest peripheral standards ever developed, which makes it great for use with multimedia peripherals such as digital video cameras and other high-speed devices like the latest hard disk drives and printers.

FireWire is integrated into Power Macs, iMacs, eMacs, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and the iPod. FireWire ports were also integrated into many other computer products dating back to the Power Macintosh G3 “Blue & White” computers. All these machines include FireWire ports that operate at up to 400 megabits per second and the latest machines include FireWire ports that support 1394b and operate at up to 800 megabits per second.

Major manufacturers of multimedia devices have been adopting the FireWire technology, and for good reason. FireWire speeds up the movement of multimedia data and large files and enables easy connection of digital consumer products — including digital camcorders, digital video tapes, digital video disks, set-top boxes, and music systems — directly to a personal computer.

In fact, Apple’s FireWire technology was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, receiving a 2001 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award for FireWire’s impact on the television industry.

It all is quite ironic to read now given Apple's current stance on FireWire ;-).