Mike: ><The following are responses to Tom Keller's post: > ><I don't believe apple ever made any PCI Mac to support usb 2.0 since >they threw their >support behind firewire <snip>... Hey folks, we got FIREWIRE!, come >get yours!> > >Firewire has been out for years, so where are the Firewire keyboards, >mice, cameras or other devices?
Eric: >Why bother with firewire for keyboards and mice? They don't need the >throughput. >As far as cameras, well, my brother has a firewire-based digital >cam*corder* (not digital still camera.) Some may exist, I don't know. > >A Firewire keyboard would be like a turbocharged V8 for a Yugo. It's >a bit of overkill. Mike: >Seems Apple only wants it for major throughput I/O for mass >storage/CD/DVD devices. Eric: >Exactly. THe same stuff they used SCSI (the previous "fast" bus - >though IIRC Firewire's still an outgrowth of SCSI. > >DVD/CD burners, external hard drives, etc. want the fastest bus they >can get. Add to it the ease of hooking up via Firewire (no reboot >like you needed with SCSI, no ID conflicts, and fast enough to get >the job done) and you see the reasons for their use of Firewire. Mike >They are not competing very well by allowing >only USB to satisfy that sector of the market. Wouldn't they have >licensed Firewire to 3rd parties for such devices? Why wouldn't Apple >envision a computer that only needs Firewire and not USB at all? Eric: >Again... why bother? Even with an ADB (or PS/2 on the PC side) >connection, you're not overwhelming the bus with typing (if you are, >you've probably broken many keyboards this year.) Mice *might* be >taking more advantage of USB with the "more precise," optical mice >that are out now, but I'd doubt they're even really pushing the USB >bus all that hard. > >Then there's the question of compatibility - USB keyboards and mice >are finally commonplace. Do you want people to rewrite drivers(for a >smaller market segment) drivers, do more hardware testing, etc. for >a few "Firewire keyboards?" > >Give me one good reason for a Firewire keyboard. Why should there be >one (besides "The bus is there?") I agree with your comments. Firewire was Apple's replacement for SCSI. My point is that Apple isn't supporting USB, other than their original support of USB 1.1, but they aren't giving Mac owners any real alternatives either if they want new devices for their computers. Apple seems to have decided that people will be happy to keep using the lower standard USB on Macs and embrace firewire for their drives/CD/DVD and other high throughput devices. Although technically inferior to firewire, USB2 has shown it can suffice as the "do it all" standard for a computer. If someone on a budget already has USB and can do everything they need on it what incentive do they have to go buy a firewire card and firewire device? Or if they buy a new computer with built-in firewire and USB but still have all USB devices from their older computer there is still no great need. On the other hand if Apple had really pushed firewire and marketed it as the same type of "do it all" standard and devices were available then their lack of USB support would be more understandable. They could say, "screw USB2, firewire is better, faster and ALL you need." It's about creating need for both PC and Mac. I don't think we're talking Beta vs.VHS here are we? Mike -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
