Quote:
|
Originally Posted by >BKA< T Wrecks
Because of this:
If you haven't seen his woodputer, check the "show me your desk" thread...
I am yet to see many things that can be plugged into a PC (except for some video cameras) which absolutely need FW instead of USB. However, when I look around, I see:
USB digicams,
USB printers,
USB memory sticks,
USB scanners,
USB card readers,
USB christmas trees (no joke!),
USB keyboards,
USB mice,
USB trackballs,
USB modems,
USB external hard disks,
USB external CD burners,
USB webcams,
and more...
Don't forget that there are many devices which don't take advantage of any performance gain offered by possible future ports simply because they don't require high bandwidth etc. (be it a possible USB 2 or a future FW version). Take the accessories Nr.1+2 for a PC: keyboards and mice. Heck, you don't even have any performance gain from PS/2 to USB! In fact, I could use an old AT mainboard, plug my keyboard into it (via a USB->PS/2 adapter, which came with my KB) and a PS/2->AT adapter, and I wouldn't see any difference.
USB is so established now that it won't die quickly. It won't be replaced soon. Look at up-to-date MoBos: Most of them still feature PS/2, parallel and serial ports - simply because these ports are established and you get loads of stuff that connects to them (and which doesn't need any faster / better ports), whereas boards which discard all legacy ports (like the Abit MAX series) are the absolute exception. I would guess that MoBos in 2 or 3 years will still come equipped with USB ports. Maybe FireWire will have made its way to a further standard port by then instead of an optional addition, which it is now. You can get many mainboards w/o FW, but try getting one w/o USB... and that's for a reason.
I bet the industry said the same about parallel and serial when USB came out... "they will be replaced by USB". But there just were so many parallel and serial devices on the market, and the actual benefits from upgrading to USB were so small in many cases (not to mention inconveniences related to USB that didn't occur with legacy ports), that those legacy ports lasted until today - and they will live for some more years. So will USB.
Plus, even if you were to keep your PC for a long time, and even if you were eventually forced to add some FireWire ports, you could walk into a shop anytime and buy an add-in card for 20 bucks (possibly less if and when FW becomes more widely used).
I would only get a MoBo with FW if I were sure to use any FW device in the near future or if the board came equipped with FW anyway, and still were reasonably priced.
|
yes i only use firewire on my external HD. but usb2 will never be finished and USB will be replaced by firewire believe me everyday at work i see more and more firewire products theres even a new mouse out with firewire(not sure of the mouse i think i have seen it)