Goodbye, FireWire 400
By Nilay Patel 
posted Nov 17th 2008 3:01PM
posted Nov 17th 2008 3:01PM
We'll miss you.
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Blah fuck the immunity of "Clak".. never can reply to him :|
Haha. That last pic in the slide show is great. "FireWire connections are not supported."
Somehow Engadget, you make my day, every day.
You watched the slideshow all the way to the end? Wow.
I don't see Blu-Ray lasting that long either. I own a player along with 1080p TV and projector, but I rarely buy Blu-Ray movies. The picture is better, but not so much better to justify the higher cost and incompatibility with all of my other players. Most of the time I just get DVDs and use my upscaling player. It looks good enough that I'm not tempted even in the slightest to replace anything in my collection. HD movies make up about 3% of my collection, and I don't see it going up much from there. And I'm a big movie buff and tech geek.
Most people aren't buying CDs these days; physical formats are on the way out. Once our Internet connections are fast enough to download HD in realtime almost nobody is going to want to buy physical movie discs either.
Have you compared a DVD and a Blu-Ray side by side? I have seen some of the best up scaling players and I just don't see how people say they cant see that much of a difference, to me a blind man could see a difference.
Funny thing is, I think Sony is actually sabotaging BluRay sales by having a really great upscaling DVD player in the PS3 - it's so very good (on our 1080p screen) that at 15' away, you can't tell the difference between DVD and BluRay, and personally, I like to sit on the couch to watch my movies, not stand next to the screen and be awed by the resolution.
> "almost nobody is going to want to buy physical movie discs either."
I don't hardly buy anything any more. I rent movies... you don't have to buy movies to watch them.
I buy Amazon MP3 songs because they are $1. But movies are magically sent to my mailbox with Netflix. I get the same enjoyment if I watch a Netflix movie, than if I went to my shelf and watched it.
Let's say I pay $20 a month for Netflix... and I get 12 movies a month. That's $1.70 per movie. I'd have to watch a movie 3 times if the DVD cost me only $5 to buy. 6 times if I paid $10 a DVD. How many movies do you buy for $10 that you want to watch 6 times?
$20 for the ability to watch 12 movies or more... or $10 per movie. Renting is the way to go.
I used to use firewire for an external hardrive but one day it randomly just stopped working. Nothing i did fixed it so i had to use usb.
So you just dismiss Firewire completely?
I'm sorry your Firewire broke. Mine is still working fine.
The record is 1-1
I used Firewire once. I plugged the cable in and hard a buzz. When I pulled out the cable, it was a horrible mess.
The record is 1-2.
Calm down there buddy. I was never dismissing it, in fact for the time it did work i had no problems and it was faster than usb.
Umm ok... Still FireWire 400 is still overall quicker than USB 2.0. FireWire has a more stable speed, which is why music technicians recommend FireWire.
Well I don't think I've ever used firewire before and I know for a fact It wasn't on any of my computers I owned so, Firewire, this is good bye at least you're fire name will live on with firefox :P (j/k)
I never adopted firewire anyway. Good riddance. What I'm wondering is if the new 3.0 USB will be available on a PCI card or will MB's have to be replaced?
Since MacBooks don't have PCI, it will have to be replaced. For the MBP, maybe there will be a USB 3.0 ExpressCard?
Yes, because everybody always means a Mac laptop when they reference a computer.
lol this is one of the few sites where I have learned to tolerate the macfanboys. Don't tell anyone, but I may be even considering an iphone for myself. Damn the Blackberry Storm for not having wifi.
I did have a non-powered firewire port on a PC laptop, but never used it in 4 years. I have a ton of brand new firewire cables from dual USB/FW devices if anybody wants them. The 10X speed of the new USB really will put the last nail in the firewire coffin.
@Johnny i think by MB he meant MotherBoard not MacBook, seeing as MacBooks dont have a PCI card slot.
@Joe Blow They might have a PCI card that comes out so you dont have to replace the MB but who knows. I personally would rather purchase a new MB and have it built right on. just my personal preference...... assuming i still have an internship lined up for that summer lol. just keep your fingers crossed if you want that PCI card
@joe blow:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that by MB, you mean motherboard, rather than MacBook--like these two above thought.
I certainly hope the USB 3.0 connection is available on a PCI card, as I'd hate to replace a motherboard just for this (though it is likely I wouldn't do that without a few other upgrades to my machine).
Firewire is dead, really? Because I'm pretty sure my $1200 HDV camcorder is unaware of that. You might want to let it know. Also, what is this about? Because there is a new firewire standard? Because a particular macbook doesn't have it? Did you know that PCs still have firewire? What about S1600 and 3200? Those aren't even out yet.
This is in reference to the USB 3.0 interface - read 3 stories down on that website you like - the engadget one.... that you read??
My Sony DV cams and external hard drives will disagree with this news.
so what did we use firewire for again?
I used it for digital video... MiniDV camcorder over Firewire.
And since USB sucks for external hard drives... I used Firewire enclosures for hard drives. Never a dropped frame. USB 2.0 uses the CPU for all file transfers... so if you're capturing video, the computer was working way harder than it needed to. Firewire doesn't have any problems.
My camcorder has Firewire... why wouldn't I use that?
Anything involving data transfer that we wanted to achieve before we were old and grey.
Are you happy now Engadget? You almost made me cry!
lets us have a moment of silence for firewire 400....
Nice tune!
Engadget just trolled us!
As for the complaint on prices of Blu-Ray, there's a very simple answer:
It's called marketing.
Most companies will use a price skimming strategy first (aka - High prices at first to those that are willing to pay - Apple did this with the iPhone, for example), then move to a penetration pricing strategy (aka - after high price paying customers have been exhausted, the price is dropped in order to reach the majority of consumers, or "penetrate" the entire market).
I would go so far as to assume that this is exactly what is going on with Blu-Ray as it does with nearly every single other piece of technology that is invented.
ehh, i don't get it... Is the standard firewire 400 interface dead? cuz FW800 and FW400 are forward & backward compatible with each other as long as the right interface or adapter is used..
Sometimes I wonder if some of the Engadget staff live in one of those Japanese 'privacy houses'.
Firewire 800 is backward compatible to Firewire 400.
i.Link, which is FAR FAR more widely used than 'real' Firewire 400 (and really is just Firewire 400 without power), is still with us (although who, other than video fanatics with 10 year old camcorders, actually use it? well - your guess is as good as mine.. I know I've never used the ones on my laptops...).
There are TONS of Firewire peripherals out there that are still FW400... oh wait, no, there isn't. Sorry. Scratch that.
Why all the Firewire hate?
Firewire has 3 main uses.... DV camcorders, pro-audio, and external storage. If you use those, you are a Firewire fan. If not, you don't know any different.
I have an old Firewire hard drive that averages 30MB/sec. USB tops out at 20MB/s. That's 50% faster! I have Firewire because of my camcorder, why wouldn't I use a Firewire external hard drive?
Now, it's SATA all the way... with eSATA external hard drives at exactly the same speed as internal drives.
What will USB3 do next? I guess we'll have to see, in 2010, what amazing new devices come out with USB3. It will take 18 month for all computers to have USB3, and another few years of people replacing old devices to use it.
Paper specs vs. real-world current technology... gotta love it.
My father-in-law just bought a MacBook Air and now doesn't have a means of connecting his travel hard drive, which only has a FireWire 400 connector, to it. I've looked online for a FW400-to-USB2.0 converter but I can't find anything. Does anyone here have a solution I can pass on? Thanks in advance.
From what I understand, the two technologies are completely incompatible. You can make a USB2 to FW400 cable, but the way the data is transfered, ect, would not allow it to work. The only possibility is some kind of box that can convert the stuff, but that would probably cost more than just getting a new of whatever you need firewire for. It seems like it would be as simple as having a Firewire cord with a USB plug on one end, but logistically, its not. Although, I would absolutely love to be proven wrong.
p_lamasney look for something like this... http://www. sonnettech. com/product/fw_adapter.html
Thanks for the link - but that's FW400-to-FW800 and I'm looking for FW400-to-USB2.0.
I really don't think one exists. You'd think that Apple would have come up with one, but I guess they're letting the marketplace do it for them. I just want the marketplace to hurry up!
should have used tears in heaven...
so i have to buy 20 adapters for all my soundcards/cameras and drives, it sucks
Why?
Current Firewire will continue to work! And they will still be making PCI and PCIe Firewire cards for the foreseeable future.
This was actually semi-sad to watch. I remember when the first iPod came out where FireWire was basically introduced to the masses. Firewire was ahead of its time, long before USB 2.0 was standardized. And even with USB 2.0, FireWire was always the better choice for large file transfers, FireWire 800 only helped that. I still use Firewire as much as possible, and I can se 800 lasting much longer, I however do not see it going past 800. Firewire is clearly a superior technology, but the openness of USB helped it win overall. USB 3.0 looks promising, but I will use Firewire as long as possible.
whoops!! sorry, I didn't realize Apple didn't put a firewire port on the Macbook Air... I assumed they put a FW800. bummer, it may be cheaper to get a new USB portable drive
I'm pretty sure I've never owned a computer with a FireWire port on it.
You suck at spelling "believe" and stop using apostrophes. Just press shift damnit. It's not that hard.
ATTN: Engadget,
Your comment systems sucks.
Fix it. There is like 20 complaints a day.
@BlurMagic
per story......
So this is entirely off-topic, but...
Is there any way to get low-ranked comments to _not_ be all greyed out? I mean, there are quite a few on this thread that I'd really like to read, but I have to hold my face two inches away and try to make out what the hell the damn thing says. It's incredibly annoying. They're worth-while comments too that IMO should never have been voted down.....
@ Urza
highlight it with your mouse - makes it easy to read
At least I'm not the only one that makes these types of slideshows! =)
http://mybloghasfleas.com/2007/03/09/goodbye-g5/
I remember it happening, then being on several of my laptops, then this post.
Never used it nor had a valid reason to.
I just shed a lonely, single, tear and walked away after hugging my firewire 400 cable with a big lump in my throat.
Thanks E! I WAS having a HAPPY day! Now I need a Xanax to pick me back up.
Great video! As a long-time professional Mac technician, all those pictures brought back great memories! I loved FireWire 400 and it's physical connector.
Although, there's always new things leaving others behind in technology. FireWire 800 / 1600's future is yet to be determined...but with USB 3.0, it's not looking good for FireWire. I never liked the FireWire 800 connector...poor design that easily falls out of it's female connector.
THAT PORT/CONNECTOR WAS TOTAL CRAP SIT NEWER USED IT TAT BULSIT
Ah, Firewire. Perhaps the only connector on my system I never ever EVER used. Not once.
Well, okay, I didn't use SPDIF either, but I managed to abuse it as a case-modding light source. Aren't I cool?
No. No you're not cool.
In fact, you're a tool.
(hey...that matches in rhyme and meter (sort of)!)
> "Perhaps the only connector on my system I never ever EVER used"
But others do, what's your point?
Having a port you don't use is better than someone needing the port and it be missing.
I guess it's really the new MacBook users that are screwed. All my computers have Firewire, because I use it. EVERy day.
@Michael Scrip
Easy, great defender of them precious FireWires, that wasn't meant as criticism. I just found it to be amusing to stumble across this "hour of commemoration" dedicated to the one port that somehow completly passed me. No negative undertone.
take a look on suer dupper USB 3.0 that is mega perfect hot spot !!
that was brilliently sad but funny at same time, effect to make that, someones had a slow day :D
USB should be the standard for all electrical jacks. I don't care if it's 2.0 or version 1.77905432 as long as the hardware plug is USB. The world would be a lot more electronically compatible. Do people realize how many years a 3-prong plug has been in existence for electrical devices? I realize they vary from country to country but for the most part they have remained unchanged.
All I'm askin' is for a little compatibility and less confusion and clutter.
Err..... what?
The guy at 1:44 looks like Niko Bellic.
what song is that in the background. nice video by the way
Does anyone else feel like they watched a graduation video?
The King is dead... Long live the King!
Only reason Why I wanted to use firewire was to get unsecured access to peoples XP machines via my Firewire enabled Linix Laptop.. )-; Oh well I just hope they make another insecure port.... Wishful thinking...
No we won't! Light is on fire and welcome something better! Nostalgia be damned!
It's been said several times I'm sure in the last couple pages but I certainly don't think it's the end of Firewire. Those of us with slower computers (like my laptop with USB 1.1) still need Firewire (which it has) to copy files quickly. Takes about 15 seconds for me to back up a lot of files to my Firewire HDD - USB... not so quickly. Maybe on the top-of-the-line computers Firewire will be forgotten, but defiantly not on older ones.
Bye, FireWire 400. Maybe you find joy and acceptance in a better place. :'-(
WE'LL MISS YOU SO MUCH!
I wish somehow I didn't know now, what I didn't know them.
I actually DO have email me when comments are added, and my inbox is flooded. :(
FW400, before you go, tell you brother FW800 he needs to hurry up or he will be gone himself.
i7 mobo's all have firewire, and mostly 400 I bet, dead indeed.
Still I can't let go
It's so natural
You belong to me, I belong to you... :(
Yes i'm sure everyone is rushing to download 9 gigs + to get a blue ray quality movie
Also with all those bandwidth caps coming better hope you aren't downloading much else during that month
OK - this is my first ... wotcher to everyone!
A point about Blu-Ray being too expensive to produce on a component level:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/04/blu-ray-not-doing-too-well-excpet-for-ps3/
so if the cost doesn't come down enough over time ... !?
Also: up-scaling seems to be something that Sony didn't think through enough:
http://news.digitaltrends.com/talk-back/259/toshiba-xde-dvd-player-better-than-blu-ray
I use a projector and I initially thought that the SD signals would look crap on a big screen but it up-scales perfectly well and HD is obviously a bonus although I'm confined to FeeSat HD in the UK which needs much more content whilst Sky and Virgin (cable) is a rip off (IMO).
Plus I agree with other comments on capped downloading or "fair usage policy". I asked my cable provider how I was supposed to use on-line HD pay-per-view streaming services if they will not let me download more than 1.5Gb per day!?!?!?!
My pennies worth.
I've just realised that I've posted my Blu-Ray comment in a firewire discussion - way to post my first comment ... DOH!?
Anyway - re:firewire I've only just bought a PCMCIA card to add firewire to a small HP laptop as I use an external audio box for music making and having had experience using the same in the USB world I must agree with other comments in that USB is way too slow to handle multitrack playback and recording at high bit rates.
Over and out.
I've just realised that I've posted my Blu-Ray comment in a firewire discussion - way to post my first comment ... DOH!?
Anyway - re:firewire I've only just bought a PCMCIA card to add firewire to a small HP laptop as I use an external audio box for music making and having had experience doing the same in the USB world I must agree with other comments in that USB is way too slow to handle multitrack playback and recording at high bit rates.
Over and out.
Where is the author of this video going? Because firewire 400 doesn't seem to be leaving. Few of the products revealed for 2009 in the music industry such as digital mixing consoles have anything except firewire 400. I'm talking about brand new products for 2009 such as the Presonus StudioLive mixing console with motorized faders. Or the Allen & Heath ZED R16. Even with the FW800 port on my new MacBook Pro I have to use adapter cables for all but 1 peripheral. Guess how many USB 3 peripherals we have in the IT department of a company of 30,000 people? You guessed it- 0. I continue to be amazed at the ignorance that has prevailed around the longevity of Firewire. It will continue to be the standard of choice for musicians well beyond 2010.
This seems a lot like watching a "Farewell Windows XP" video. Quite premature and laughable.
Wtf? USB 3.0 hasn't even been publicly released yet. Perhaps that explains why your IT department has 0 peripherals.
Ahhhhhhhhhh, nooooo, please FireWire, don't go, I still love you!!!! But seriously, htf am I going to hook up my 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen and iPod Mini now? Phht, no way in hell I'm using USB for them. Guess I'll just have to crack out the ol' G3 running Panther.