December 8th, 2005

FireWire not dead, but it's on life support

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:41 am

Categories: Intel, Opinion, iBook, iPod

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I was genuinely surprised when Apple dropped FireWire sync from the iPod nano. So much so that I almost returned mine when I first made the gruesome discovery. I thought for sure that FireWire would live forever in the bigger iPods and that it was just a casualty of the nano’s small size. Unfortunately, FireWire’s almost dead completely.

I reported back in October, that when Apple launched the video iPod sans FireWire, they also moved their FireWire Web page from a prominent location on the top level of Apple.com to a sub-page in the bowels of their developer Web site. Coincidence? You tell me.

Now I’m hearing that FireWire is gone completely from the new Intel iBooks that are coming next month, but its loss should come as a surprise to no one, given Apple’s moves of late. A little birdy told me that the new Intel PowerBooks will lose FireWire 400 completely and retain only one FireWire 800 port as a concession to video professionals.

What’s your take on the death of FireWire? Will you miss it? Is this a part of Apple’s deal with the devil (*ahem* Intel)? Sound off in the TalkBack comments below.