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A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the or-you-might-be-a-fanboi dept.

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."

10 of 461 comments (clear)

  1. Am I missing something... by Desert+Raven · · Score: 5, Informative

    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 is the link that was intended.

    1. Re:Am I missing something... by Weedlekin · · Score: 3, Informative

      "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.

      --
      I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr. Hastings.
  2. Correct link by wumpus188 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why not link directly to the list instead of the pointless poll?

  3. HUNDREDS of angry users!!!! by mschuyler · · Score: 5, Informative

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

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    How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
  4. Re:dumb much? by FyreFiend · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

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    - Apple Computer......proudly going out of business for over twenty years.
  5. Re:Outrage! by lysergic.acid · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  6. Re:Outrage! by kromozone · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  7. RS-232 by ponraul · · Score: 3, Informative

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

  8. Re:Outrage! by CheeseTroll · · Score: 3, Informative

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

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    A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
  9. Re:Outrage! by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

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    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com